on

Pronunciation

• (British Isles, Eastern New England) enPR: ŏn, IPA: /ɒn/
• (Northern US, cot–caught merger) enPR: än, IPA: /ɑn/
• (Southern American English, Midland US) IPA: /ɔn/
• (Southern American English) IPA: /ɔʊn/
• Homophone: awn (Midland American English, Southern American English, Cot-Caught merger)

Adjective

on (not comparable)

1. In the state of being active, functioning or operating.
   • Antonym: off
   • All the lights are on, so they must be home.
2. Performing according to schedule; taking place.
   • Are we still on for tonight?
   • Is the show still on?
   • We had to ration our food because there was a war on.
   • That TV programme that you wanted to watch is on now.
3. Fitted; covering; being worn.
   • Your feet will soon warm up once your socks are on.
   • I was trying to drink out of the bottle while the top was still on!
4. (postpositive) Of a stated part of something, oriented towards the viewer or other specified direction.
   • The photograph shows the UFO side on.
   • edge on, side on, end on, face on
5. (chiefly UK, informal, usually negative) Acceptable, appropriate.
   • You can't do that; it's just not on.
6. (informal) Destined, normally in the context of a challenge being accepted; involved, doomed.
   • "Five bucks says the Cavs win tonight." ―"You're on!"
   • Mike just threw coffee onto Paul's lap. It's on now.
7. (baseball, informal) Having reached a base as a runner and being positioned there, awaiting further action from a subsequent batter.
8. (cricket) Within the half of the field on the same side as the batsman's legs; the left side for a right-handed batsman.
   • Synonym: leg; Antonym: off
   • The captain moved two fielders to the on side.
   • Ponsonby-Smythe hit a thumping on drive.
9. (acting, drama, role-playing games) Acting in character.
10. (euphemistic) Menstruating.
11. (informal, of a person) Performative or funny in a wearying manner.
    • He always has to be on, it's so exhausting.

Adverb

on (not comparable)

For idiomatic meanings of phrasal verbs, such as carry on, hang on, have on, try on, etc., please see the individual entries.

1. To an operating state.
   • turn the television on
2. So as to cover or be fitted.
   • The lid wasn't screwed on properly.
   • Put on your hat and gloves.
3. Along, forwards (continuing an action).
   • drive on, rock on
4. In continuation, at length.
   • and so on
   • He rambled on and on.
5. (obsolete in the US) Later.
   • Ten years on, nothing had changed in the village.
6. Of betting odds, denoting a better-than-even chance. See also odds-on.
   • Antonym: against
   • That horse is twenty-to-one on, so you need to stake twenty pounds just to win one pound.

Preposition

on

1. Positioned at the upper surface of, touching from above.
   • A vase of flowers stood on the table.
   • Please lie down on the couch.
   • The parrot was sitting on Jim's shoulder.
2. Positioned at or resting against the outer surface of; attached to.
   • He had a scar on the side of his face.
   • There is a dirty smudge on this window.
   • The painting hangs on the wall.
   • The fruit ripened on the trees.
3. Expressing figurative placement or attachment.
   • All of the responsibility is on him.
   • I put a bet on the winning horse.
4. Denoting performance or action by contact with the surface, upper part, or outside of anything; hence, by means of; with.
   • to play on a violin or piano
5. At or in (a certain region or location).
   • The lighthouse that you can see is on the mainland.
   • The suspect is thought to still be on the campus.
6. Near; adjacent to; alongside.
   • The fleet is on the American coast.
   • Croton-on-Hudson, Rostov-on-Don, Southend-on-Sea
7. Supported by (the specified part of itself).
   • A table can't stand on two legs.
   • After resting on his elbows, he stood on his toes, then walked on his heels.
8. So as to impart force to.
   • tug on the rope; push hard on the door
9. So as to impact; against.
   • I stubbed my toe on an old tree stump.
10. Covering.
    • He wore old shoes on his feet.
11. (with certain modes of transport, especially public transport) Inside (a vehicle) for the purpose of travelling.
    • on a bus, on a train, on a plane
12. At the date of.
    • Born on the 4th of July.
13. Some time during the day of.
    • On Sunday I'm busy. I'll see you on Monday.
    • Can I see you on a different day?
14. At a given time after the start of something; at.
    • Smith scored again on twelve minutes, doubling Mudchester Rovers' lead.
    • I'll see you a week on Friday.
15. Dealing with the subject of; about; concerning.
    • I was reading a book on history.
    • The city hosted the World Summit on the Information Society
    • I have no opinion on this subject.
16. (informal) In the possession of.
    • I haven't got any money on me.
17. Because of, or due to.
    • to arrest someone on suspicion of bribery
    • to contact someone on a hunch
18. Upon; at the time of (and often because of).
    • On Jack's entry, William got up to leave.
    • On the addition of ammonia, a chemical reaction begins.
19. Paid for by.
    • The drinks are on me tonight, boys.
    • The meal is on the house.
    • I paid for the airfare and meals for my family, but the hotel room was on the company.
20. Indicating a means or medium.
    • I saw it on television.
    • Can't you see I'm on the phone?
    • My favorite shows are on BBC America.
    • The Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show is on YouTube.
    • The film was released on DVD.
21. Indicating the target of, or thing affected by, an event or action.
    • They planned an attack on London.
    • The soldiers mutinied and turned their guns on their officers.
    • Her words made a lasting impression on my mind.
    • What will be the effect on morale?
22. Toward; for; indicating the object of an emotion.
    • Have pity or compassion on him.
23. (especially Ireland) Indicating the person experiencing an emotion, cold, thirst, hunger, etc.
24. Indicating a means of subsistence.
    • They lived on ten dollars a week.
    • The dog survived three weeks on rainwater.
25. Engaged in or occupied with (an action or activity).
    • He's on his lunch break.
    • I'm on nights all this week.
    • on vacation; on holiday; on the job; on the fiddle
26. Regularly taking (a drug).
    • You've been on these antidepressants far too long.
    • He's acting so strangely, I think he must be on something.
27. Under the influence of (a drug).
    • He's acting crazy because he's on crack right now.
28. (mathematics) Having identical domain and codomain.
    • a function on
29. (mathematics) Having $V^n$ as domain and V as codomain, for some set V and integer n.
    • an operator on
30. (mathematics) Generated by.
    • the free group on four letters
31. In addition to; besides; indicating multiplication or succession in a series.
    • heaps on heaps of food
    • mischief on mischief; loss on loss
32. (obsolete, regional) of
33. Indicating dependence or reliance.
    • I depended on them for assistance.
    • He will promise on certain conditions.
34. (obsolete) At the peril of, or for the safety of.
35. Serving as a member of.
    • He is on the jury; I am on the committee.
36. By virtue of; with the pledge of.
    • He affirmed or promised on his word, or on his honour.
37. To the account or detriment of; denoting imprecation or invocation, or coming to, falling, or resting upon.
    • On us be all the blame.
    • A curse on him!
    • Please don't tell on her and get her in trouble.
    • He turned on her and has been her enemy ever since.
    • He went all honest on me, making me listen to his confession.
38. (especially when numbers of combatants or competitors are specified) Against; in opposition to.
    • The fight was three on one, and he never stood a chance.

Verb

on (third-person singular simple present ons, present participle oning or onning, simple past and past participle oned or onned)

1. (Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, transitive, colloquial) To switch on.
   • Can you on the light?
   • Synonym: turn on

Alternative forms

• ohn

Preposition

on

1. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Without.

Noun

on

1. In the Japanese language, a pronunciation, or reading, of a kanji character that was originally based on the character's pronunciation in Chinese, contrasted with kun.
   • Most kanji have two kinds of reading, called "on" and "kun".

Anagrams

• N.O., NO, No, No., no, no.

Numeral

on

1. ten

Pronunciation

• IPA: /on/, [õ̞n]

Adjective

on (comparative hobe, superlative onen or hoberen, excessive onegi)

1. good
2. useful, convenient

Alternative forms

• ahont, hon, hont (archaic)
• ont

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA: /ˈon/

Adverb

on

1. where

Alternative forms

• un (widely in free variation)
• en (some western dialects)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /on/

Conjunction

on

1. and
   • Salz on Päfer
     • salt and pepper

Pronoun

on, ōn

1. (demonstrative) that; those

Alternative forms

• ôn

Pronunciation

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA: [ɔːn]
• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA: [oːn]

Noun

on m (plural en)

1. lamb

Numeral

on

1. ten

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ˈon]

Pronoun

on m

1. he (third person personal singular)

Adverb

on

1. rarely used as shorthand for oneven (odd), the prefix on- means not (corresponds to English un-)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈon/, [ˈon]
• Hyphenation: on

Verb

on

1. third-person singular present indicative of olema
2. third-person plural present indicative of olema

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈon/, [ˈo̞n]
• Syllabification: on

Verb

on

1. third-person singular indicative present of olla
   • Se on tuolla.

     • It is there.
   • Se on ollut tuolla.

     • It has been there.

Anagrams

• no

Alternative forms

• l'on (formal)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔ̃/, (before a vowel) /ɔ.n‿/
• Homophone: ont

Pronoun

on

1. (indefinite) one, people, you, someone (an unspecified individual)
   • Synonyms: quelqu'un (in some contexts), l'on (formal)
   • On ne peut pas pêcher ici ― You can’t fish here
2. (personal, informal) we
   • Synonym: nous (in some contexts)
   • On s’est amusés. ― We had fun.

Anagrams

• NO, nô

Conjunction

on

1. (in several dialects, including Low Prussian) Alternative form of un (and)
   • Melk on Brot

     • milk and bread

Noun

on

1. the

Pronunciation

• IPA: /on/, /ɔn/

Pronoun

on

1. Apocopic form of onu; one, someone, they (indefinite personal pronoun)

Pronoun

on

1. one (indefinite personal pronoun)

Romanization

on

1. Rōmaji transcription of おん

Verb

on

1. (there) is

Preposition

on

1. on, in

Adverb

on

1. on

Numeral

on

1. Alternative form of oon

Pronoun

on

1. Alternative form of oon

Adverb

on

1. Alternative form of oon

Determiner

on

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of a (indefinite article)

Verb

on

1. (Early Middle English) first/third-person singular present of unnen

Noun

on (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of wone (“course”)

Noun

on (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of oven

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA: /ˈoːn/

Adverb

ōn

1. again

Alternative forms

• ond

Adverb

on

1. (Gascony) where

Pronunciation

• IPA: /on/

Pronoun

on (third person)

1. he

Alternative forms

• an

Pronunciation

• IPA: /on/

Preposition

on

1. on, in, at, among [+dative or instrumental]

• On þæm huse

  • In the house

1. on, during [+accusative]

• On midne winter

  • In mid-winter

Adverb

on

1. (with verbs of taking or depriving) from

Alternative forms

• hon

Pronoun

on

1. one (gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /on/

Preposition

on

1. on

Pronoun

on

1. Alternative spelling of ón

Article

on

1. Alternative spelling of ón

Pronoun

on

1. he (for animate nouns), it (for inanimate nouns)
2. this (demonstrative)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔn/
• (Middle Polish) IPA: /ˈɔn/, /ˈon/
• Syllabification: on

Pronoun

on (plural: masculine personal oni, all others one)

1. he (for animate nouns), it (for inanimate nouns)

Pronoun

on m

1. (dated) this (demonstrative)

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), on is one of the top 10,355 most used words in Polish, appearing 1477 times in scientific texts, 677 times in news, 976 times in essays, 1957 times in fiction, and 1617 times in plays, totaling 6650 times, making it the 8th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

Alternative forms

• jon, jone

Pronoun

on

1. they

Alternative forms

• onn (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran)
• an (Puter)

Noun

on m (plural ons)

1. (Sutsilvan, Vallader) year

Numeral

on (3rd person possessive {{{1}}}, plural {{{2}}})

1. ten

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʔɔn/

Noun

on

1. fire

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ôːn/

Pronoun

ȏn (Cyrillic spelling о̑н)

1. he

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔn/

Pronoun

on

1. he (third-person personal masculine singular pronoun)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔ́n/

Pronoun

ȍn

1. he
2. (obsolete) onkanje form^{[→SS, p. 389]}

Noun

on

1. salt

Noun

on

1. indefinite plural of o.

Anagrams

• NO, no.

Numeral

on

1. ten

Numeral

on

1. ten

Article

on m sg

1. a, an

Pronoun

on

1. it
2. (obsolete, indefinite personal pronoun) one

Pronunciation

• (Luutsa, Liivtšülä) IPA: /ˈon/, [ˈon]
• Hyphenation: on

Verb

on

1. third-person singular indicative present of õllõ

Alternative forms

• onk

Pronunciation

IPA: /ɔ̃/

Numeral

on

1. one

Alternative forms

• a, an
• ana (before consonant)

Preposition

on

1. on