Ashore

How to spell ashore

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce ashore

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ashore mean?

1. adverbTo or onto the shore from the water; on land as opposed to at sea.

Ashore in a sentence

• The storm drove the small fishing boat ashore during the night.

• The crew rowed ashore to collect fresh water and supplies.

Where does ashore come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word formed inside English from the prefix a-, a worn-down form of the Old English preposition 'an' or 'on' meaning 'on' or 'to', joined to 'shore', the land bordering a sea, lake, or river. The 'shore' element traces back to Middle English 'schore' and probably to a Germanic root meaning land that is cut off or divided from the water. The combined adverb appears in the late 1500s, built on the same pattern that gives us 'aboard', 'aground', 'aside', and 'afloat', where a- simply means 'in a state or direction of'. Knowing that a- is the old word for 'on' explains the single s and the smooth join: it is literally 'on shore' compressed into one word. Because the prefix is unstressed, the spelling trap is hearing it as two words or doubling letters that are not there.

How the word is built

• a- (Old English prefix meaning 'on' or 'to')
• shore (the land at the edge of the sea)