• first letter of the Latin alphabet, first vowel
  • "This vowel expresses almost the full range of our souls' movements." -Grand dictionnaire francais et latin, 1737
  • phonetic name: "near-open front unrounded vowel / open back unrounded vowel"; sound: open up and say "aaawh!"
  • numeric value represents unity: A=1
  • in Egyptian hieroglyphs, represented as a vulture
  • in Phoenician/Hebrew**, shown as a pictogram of an ox / horned cow head (aleph)
  • adopted by Greeks into alpha (α) which became basis for English word "alphabet"
  • in social animals, the alpha is the individual with the highest rank, often first to eat and first to mate
  • the third most common letter in the English language
  • 'A' with a ring above (Å, å) is commonly used in Scandinavian languages (think IKEA!)
  • used to denote top quality (i.e. A+, A-list)
  • 'A' in music is the note 'la', the sixth note in a C-major musical scale
  • triangular shape of upper case 'A' denotes strength, balance, reason, spirituality and masculinity
  • horizontal crossbar of capital 'A' is usually slightly below letter's geometric centre, reinforcing the character's strength
  • also associated with amplitude, stability and nobility
  • said to correspond with attributes of the colour black: ample, open, perfect, grave and stable
  • was considered ominous if uttered during an ancient Greek sacrifice
  • represented Sunday in ancient European calendars
  • 'A' in a circle represents anarchy
  • 'A' in cards stands for Ace, and is the strongest card in the deck
  • 'A' in crossword puzzles stands for Across
  • the only single-letter word the English language (other that 'I')
  • in English, 'a' stands for an indefinite article
  • '@' symbol is derived from the Latin preposition ad which denotes movement/direction; appeared on typewriters in the 1920s, and was introduced in email addresses by programmer Ray Tomlinson in 1972
  • 'A' in 'AM radio' stands for amplitude modulation
  • 'a' in '9 a.m.' stands for ante meridiem (meaning before midday)
  • A can also abbreviate acreage, alto, amateur, atom and Austria
  • phonetic sound, "eh", is a common interjection, often associated with Canadians
  • NATO phonetic alphabet: ALPHA
  • Vitamin A (aka retinol), a yellow compound found in green and yellow vegetables, egg yolk, and fish-liver oil, is essential for growth and vision in dim light
  • "The purest and simplest vocalic sound, as uttered by opening the air passage of the throat to its fullest extent. It is regarded as the most primitive vowel sound and it is the first sound uttered by a baby." -David Diringer, 20th century linguist and alphabet scholar
  • "The sound vibration of the vowel A means 'washing, purity, purification, purifying light'." -Joseph E. Rael, Tracks of Dancing Light: A Native American Approach to Understanding Your Name
  • in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, a woman is condemned to wear a gown with the letter 'A' embroidered on its breast (for the crime of adultery)
  • "A is the inside, as it were, the origin and the source from which other letters flow, and likewise, the final goal to which all the others flow back, as rivers flow into the ocean or into the great sea." -Hermes, from Tractatus aureus
  • A-frame is a triangular-shaped structure known for its stability - used in roofs, sawhorses, tents, folding ladders, suspension bridges, etc.
  • A-shirt is a shirt without sleeves
  • Blood type A is a dominant blood type, and will always be expressed; according to Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo, people with blood type A are "settled, cooperative and orderly" and flourish on vegetarian diets, as a result of their agrarian ancestors. The type A diet contains soy proteins, grains, and organic vegetables and encourages gentle exercise.
*Quick note on vowels vs. consonants: Vowel sounds are made from the vocal chords with minimal shaping of expelled breath; consonant sounds are created through obstructing or channeling of the breath by the lips, teeth, tongue, throat, nasal passage, or any combination of these. (Consonant comes from the Latin consonans meaning "sounding along with".)
**Ancient Hebrew letters were originally copied from the Phoenician