# among

Pronunciation: say "uh-MUNG" /əˈmʌŋ/

## Preposition

1. Being one of, or belonging to, a group.
   - Simple: One of a group, as in 'among the best'.
   - _The bridge is among the oldest in Europe._
   - _Among the guests were two former ministers._
2. Shared within a group, as a feature or a state.
   - Simple: Shared by members of a group, as in 'common among students'.
   - _Support for the plan is strong among younger voters._
   - _Rumors circulated among the staff._
3. Marks a group of more than two people or things that something is split up, shared out or picked from, or whose members interact with each other.
   - Simple: Used when sharing, dividing or choosing between more than two people or things, or when they deal with each other.
   - _Voters had to choose among five candidates for the open council seat._
   - _Tips are shared equally among the six servers at the end of each night._
4. Mingled or intermixed with distinct, separable things or people ('how can you speak about their customs when you have never lived among them?').
   - Simple: In the middle of a group of people or things, mixed in with them.
   - _Wildflowers grew among the rocks._
   - _He felt at home among strangers._

## Origin

From Middle English 'among' (also 'amang', 'amonge'), from Old English 'amang', 'onġemang', which was 'on' plus 'ġemang' meaning 'crowd, mixture'. It is related to West Frisian 'mank' and Dutch 'mank', all meaning 'among'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/among (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).