ac-prefix

Etymology: < classical Latin ac-, assimilated form of Latin ad- ad- prefix before c and qu , as in accumulāre accumulate v., accēdere accede v., acquiescere acquiesce v. The usual reflex in Old French was a- , which is reflected in the earlier Middle English borrowings. Under classicizing influence, the spelling ac- was generally restored in Middle French, and likewise ultimately in English. Compare the spelling history of e.g. account n., account v., acquit v.The same respelling was apparently applied analogously to a number of words which do not in fact etymologically show Latin ac- at all: compare e.g. accloy v., accumber v., accurse v., acknow v., acknowledge v., and discussion at those entries. Occasional new formations within English are found apparently from the 16th cent. (compare acconsent v. and probably also accomplice n., and in the 17th cent. e.g. accomplement v., accompliment n., accompass v.). Compare also earlier accumbrous adj., acquiet v.