Etymology From Middle English asse, from Old English assa, back-formed from assen (“she-ass”), from Celtic (compare Old Irish asan, Old Cornish asen), from Latin asinus. Displaced Old English esol, from Proto-West Germanic *asil, also a loanword from the same Latin word. Sense “stupid person” from the animal's reputation for stubbornness, going back to antiquity (compare Latin asinus (“slow-witted person”)).
1
Any of several species of horse-like animals, especially Equus asinus, the domesticated of which are used as beasts of burden.
And Iesse tooke an asse laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by Dauid his sonne vnto Saul.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 16:20:
Thus the Aſſe having a peculiar mark of a croſſe made by a black liſt down his back, and another athwart, or at right angles down his ſhoulders; common opinion aſcribes this figure unto a peculiar ſignation; ſince that beaſt had the honour to bear our Saviour on his back.1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Same [i.e., the Blacknesse of Negroes]”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 6th book, page 282:
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[…] suddenly a man, in foreign garments: wonderfully real and distinct to look at: stood outside the window, with an axe stuck in his belt, and leading an ass laden with wood by the bridle.1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 51:
Pliny the Elder states that, to increase sexual potency, the right testis of an ass should be worn in a bracelet.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 49:
In this section "animal" means any horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog.1972, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Part I, section 20(3)”, in Road Traffic Act 1972, page 14:
2
Often, Vulgar, From conflation with etymology 2 A stupid or inconsiderate person.
Near-synonyms: fool, idiot, jerk, asswipe; see also Thesaurus:jerk
That new kid left the cap off the syrup bottle again! What an ass.
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He is such an ass for leaving the house door open.
Oh Vengeance! / Who? What an Aſſe am I?c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 264:
I had sprung to my feet. I was speaking, and yet I had prepared no words. Tarp Henry, my companion, was plucking at my skirts and I heard him whispering, "Sit down, Malone! Don't make a public ass of yourself."1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
Sometimes by way of joke, and sometimes by way of irritation, compositors are called Asses by the pressmen.[1841, William Savage, Dictionary of the Art of Printing, page 24:
Variant of arse; used chiefly in North America. Ultimately from Middle English ars, ers, from Old English ærs, ears, from Proto-West Germanic *ars, from Proto-Germanic *arsaz (compare Old High German ars (German Arsch), Old Norse ars, Old Frisian ers), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁órsos (compare Ancient Greek ὄρρος (órrhos)). Etymological notes Contrary to the widespread belief of this being a euphemism, it arose as a pronunciation spelling (of the older form arse still used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) that shows the assimilation of /ɹ/ before coronal consonants (especially /s/), a phenomenon that has been present in nonstandard speech from the Middle English period onwards; this is distinct from the later phenomenon of non-rhoticity as /ɹ/ was lost before it could modify the preceding vowel. Other instances of this phenomenon (some of which retained both spellings with different meanings) include cuss from curse, gash from garsh, bass (“fish”) from barse, bust from burst, passel from parcel; see :Category:English terms with assimilation of historic /ɹ/ for a more extensive list.
On a recent episode of "The Justin Dunning Podcast," Starkel shared his thoughts on Martell, a former Ohio State quarterback, saying "he's ass my dude" in reference to Starkel.2019 February 5, Alex Miller, “Former Texas A&M QB Nick Starkel breaks down old Twitter beef with Tate Martell”, in Dallas Morning News:
For some reason, the teenager thought it’d be a good idea to criticize Newton and say he's "ass" and that he’s "about to be poor" because he's a free agent.2021 February 21, Thomas Carannante, “Patriots: Cam Newton getting disrespected by a teenager is everything that’s wrong with society”, in Fansided:
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"You're so ass," Murray says to another player.2021 October 28, Josh Weinfuss, “What we learned about Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray by watching him on Twitch”, in ESPN:
ass
particle
Etymology
Variant of arse; used chiefly in North America. Ultimately from Middle English ars, ers, from Old English ærs, ears, from Proto-West Germanic *ars, from Proto-Germanic *arsaz (compare Old High German ars (German Arsch), Old Norse ars, Old Frisian ers), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁órsos (compare Ancient Greek ὄρρος (órrhos)). Etymological notes Contrary to the widespread belief of this being a euphemism, it arose as a pronunciation spelling (of the older form arse still used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) that shows the assimilation of /ɹ/ before coronal consonants (especially /s/), a phenomenon that has been present in nonstandard speech from the Middle English period onwards; this is distinct from the later phenomenon of non-rhoticity as /ɹ/ was lost before it could modify the preceding vowel. Other instances of this phenomenon (some of which retained both spellings with different meanings) include cuss from curse, gash from garsh, bass (“fish”) from barse, bust from burst, passel from parcel; see :Category:English terms with assimilation of historic /ɹ/ for a more extensive list.
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US, Slang, Vulgar Synonym of -ass (used to intensify an adjective).
That was one big ass fish!
That's an expensive ass car!
ass
noun
Etymology
Variant of arse; used chiefly in North America. Ultimately from Middle English ars, ers, from Old English ærs, ears, from Proto-West Germanic *ars, from Proto-Germanic *arsaz (compare Old High German ars (German Arsch), Old Norse ars, Old Frisian ers), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁órsos (compare Ancient Greek ὄρρος (órrhos)). Etymological notes Contrary to the widespread belief of this being a euphemism, it arose as a pronunciation spelling (of the older form arse still used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) that shows the assimilation of /ɹ/ before coronal consonants (especially /s/), a phenomenon that has been present in nonstandard speech from the Middle English period onwards; this is distinct from the later phenomenon of non-rhoticity as /ɹ/ was lost before it could modify the preceding vowel. Other instances of this phenomenon (some of which retained both spellings with different meanings) include cuss from curse, gash from garsh, bass (“fish”) from barse, bust from burst, passel from parcel; see :Category:English terms with assimilation of historic /ɹ/ for a more extensive list.
Train compartment: two sick young junkies on their way to Lexington tear their pants down in convulsions of lust. One of them soaps his cock and works it up the other's ass with a corkscrew motion.1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 81:
That does it! Now listen! Why is it that everything today has involved things either going in or coming out of my ass? I’m sick of it! It’s completely immature!1997 Matt Stone & Trey Parker, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe," South Park, Season 1, Episode 1 (aired August 13, 1997), Spoken by Eric Cartman (Trey Parker)
3
US, Slang, Vulgar Sex; a person to have sex with; with vulgar emphasis on their corporeality (their body) over their personhood.
I'm going to go down to the bar and try to get me some ass.
piece of ass
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Acid, booze, and ass / Needles, guns, and grass1971, Joni Mitchell, “Blue”, in Blue:
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US, Slang, Vulgar Used in similes to express something bad or unpleasant.
I feel like ass today.
This room smells like ass.
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What a load of ass.
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US, Slang, Vulgar A person; the self; (reflexively) oneself or one's person, chiefly their body.
Get your lazy ass out of bed!
We risk our asses out there every day.
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I'ma get medieval on your ass!
"All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th," Higgins wrote.2025 November 18, Brandon Drenon, quoting Clay Higgins, “The only 'no' vote on releasing Epstein files”, in BBC, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2025:
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US, Broadly, Slang, Vulgar One's personal safety, or figuratively one's job, prospects, etc.
Mess up one more time and it's your ass on the line.