c. 1200, afote, "on foot, walking, not on horseback," contraction of prepositional phrase on fotum; see a- (1) "on" + foot (n.). Meaning "astir, on the move" is from 1520s; figurative sense of "in active operation" is from 1601 ("Julius Caesar").

c. 1200, "in life, living," contraction of Old English on life "in living, not dead," from a- (1) + dative of lif "life" (see life). The full form on live was still current 17c. Of abstract things (love, lawsuits, etc.) "in a state of operation, unextinguished," c. 1600. From 1709 as "active, lively;" 1732 as "attentive, open" (usually with to). Used emphatically, especially with man (n.); as in:

[A]bout a thousand gentlemen having bought his almanacks for this year, merely to find what he said against me, at every line they read they would lift up their eyes, and cry out betwixt rage and laughter, "they were sure no man alive ever writ such damned stuff as this." [Jonathan Swift, "Bickerstaff's Vindication," 1709]

Thus it was abstracted as an expletive, man alive! (1845). Alive and kicking "alert, vigorous," attested from 1823; Farmer says "The allusion is to a child in the womb after quickening," but kicking in the sense "lively and active" is recorded from 1550s (e.g. "the wanton or kicking flesh of yong maydes," "Lives of Women Saints," c. 1610).

c. 1200, allgate "all the time, on all occasions," mid-13c. "in every way," probably from the Old Norse phrase alla gotu (see all + gate (n.) "a way"). With adverbial genitive -s from late 14c. (compare always).

"on high, in the air," c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse a lopt "up above," literally "up in the air," from a "in, on" (see on) + lopt "sky, air, atmosphere; loft, upper room," from the general Germanic word for "air" (cognate with Gothic luftus, Old High German luft, Old English lyft "air;" see loft (n.)). Scandinavian -pt- was pronounced as -ft-. The Old English equivalent was on þa lyft.

"small bottle or flask," especially one used for holy liquids, c. 1200, from Old French ampole "flask, vial," from Latin ampulla "small globular flask or bottle," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps a contracted form of amphora. Superseded in English by the form ampulla and later ampul.

"fix or secure in a particular place," c. 1200, perhaps in Old English, from anchor (n.) or from Medieval Latin ancorare. Figurative use from 1580s; in reference to television or radio programs, 1961. Related: Anchored; anchoring.

"concerning, about, in respect or reference to," c. 1200, onont "on level with, beside," also "in the company of, fronting against," a contraction of Old English on efn "near to, close by," literally "on even (ground with);" see a- (1) + even (adj.).

As an adverb, c. 1400, anents, anentes, with adverbial genitive. The unetymological -t was added 12c. Compare German neben "near to, by the side of," short for in eben, from Old High German ebani "equality."

c. 1200, "to irritate, annoy, provoke," from Old Norse angra "to grieve, vex, distress; to be vexed at, take offense with," from Proto-Germanic *angaz (source also of Old English enge "narrow, painful," Middle Dutch enghe, Gothic aggwus "narrow"), from PIE *anghos, suffixed form of root *angh- "tight, painfully constricted, painful."

In Middle English, also of physical pain. The meaning "excite to wrath, make angry" is from late 14c. Related: Angered; angering.

c. 1200, "acute bodily or mental suffering," from Old French anguisse, angoisse "choking sensation, distress, anxiety, rage" (12c.), from Latin angustia (plural angustiae) "tightness, straitness, narrowness;" figuratively "distress, difficulty," from ang(u)ere "to throttle, torment" (from PIE root *angh- "tight, painfully constricted, painful").

"nearby," c. 1200, from a- (1) + nigh.