ajar

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈd͡ʒɑː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈd͡ʒɑɹ/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

From Middle English ajar, on char (“on [the] turn”), from on (“on”) + char (“turn, occasion”), from Old English ċierr, cyrr (“turn”), from ċierran (“to turn, convert”), equivalent to a- +‎ char. Akin to Scots char, chare (“to turn, cause to turn”), Dutch akerre, kier (“ajar”), German kehren (“to turn”). See char.

• achar (Scotland)

ajar (not comparable)

1. Slightly turned or opened.

   The door was standing ajar.

ajar (comparative more ajar, superlative most ajar)

1. Slightly turned or opened.

   The door is ajar.

   • 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:

     I know—for Death, who comes for me
     From regions of the blest afar,
     Where there is nothing to deceive,
     Hath left his iron gate ajar, […]

ajar (third-person singular simple present ajars, present participle ajarring, simple past and past participle ajarred)

1. (rare, perhaps nonstandard) To turn or open slightly; to become ajar or to cause to become ajar; to be or to hang ajar.
   • 1970, John H. Evans, Mercer County law journal, volume 10:

     A plainclothes detective knocked on a slightly ajarred door.

   • 1977, Bill Reed, Dogod:

     Yes, and the door also lops off stairs leading to a landing on whose landing is another door on whose hinges much of this story ajars, if it hasn't jarred too much already.

   • 2007, Loki, Shard of the Ancient:

     Just as the gates fully ajarred themselves, the Lamborghini soared through them, and out into the freedom of the poorly defined road.

From a- (“in, at”) + jar (“discord, disagreement”).

ajar (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Out of harmony.
2. Being at variance or in contradiction to something.
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.14:

     There is a sort of unexpressed concern, / A kind of shock that sets one's heart ajar […] .

ajar (third-person singular simple present ajars, present participle ajarring, simple past and past participle ajarred)

1. (rare, perhaps nonstandard) To show variance or contradiction with something; to be or cause to be askew.
   • 1907, The English Illustrated Magazine, volume 36:

     It clean deafened the two of us, and set all the crockery ware ajarring ; and when the neighbours heard it they came running into the street to see who was getting hurt.

• raja

ajar m

1. (archaic) large basket for holding or measuring grain

• Newmark, Leonard (1999), “ajar”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press

From Malay ajar

ajar

1. to learn

From Malay ajar, from Sanskrit आचार्य (ācārya, “teacher, master”).

• IPA^(key): /a.d͡ʒar/
• Rhymes: -jar
• Hyphenation: a‧jar

ajar

1. lesson
2. advice

ajar

1. to teach

• adjar (1901–1947, 1947–1972)

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈad͡ʒar/ [ˈa.d͡ʒar]
• Rhymes: -ad͡ʒar
• Syllabification: a‧jar

Inherited from Malay ajar, from Classical Malay اجر (ajar), from Sanskrit आचार्य (ācārya, “teacher, master”), likely derived from आचार (ācāra, “conduct, behavior”). Doublet of acar, acara, acarya, and hajar.

ajar (base-imperative ajar, active mengajar, passive diajar)

1. to teach

Borrowed from Malay [Term?] (Medan/Deli dialect).

ajar (plural ajar-ajar)

1. (dialect) first fruit

Borrowed from Javanese ꦲꦗꦂ (ajar, “section of fruit”).

ajar

1. (dialect) classifier for durian compartment

• “ajar”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

ajar

1. romanization of ꦲꦗꦂ

Borrowed from Sanskrit आचार्य (ācārya, “teacher, master”). Doublet of acar, acara, and hajar.

ajar (Jawi spelling اجر)

1. to teach^[1]

• > Ambonese Malay: ajar (inherited)
• > Indonesian: ajar (inherited)
• → Iban: ajar

• "ajar" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Unknown, probably from Sanskrit आचार्य (ācārya, “teacher, master”) (hence, doublet of ācārya), likely derived from आचार (ācāra, “conduct, behavior”).

• IPA^(key): /ad͡ʒar/
• Rhymes: -d͡ʒar
• Hyphenation: a‧jar

ajar

1. communication, information, announcement
2. teaching, training
3. hermit

• > Javanese: ꦲꦗꦂ (ajar) (inherited)
  • → Indonesian: hajar
• >? Classical Malay: اجر (ajar)
  • > Malay: ajar (inherited)
    • > Ambonese Malay: ajar (inherited)
    • > Indonesian: ajar (inherited)
    • → Iban: ajar

• "ajar" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.

• IPA^(key): /aˈxaɾ/ [aˈxaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: a‧jar

From older ahajar, from Old Spanish haja, probably from Vulgar Latin *fallia (“defect”), from Latin fallĕre.

• ahajar (obsolete)

ajar (first-person singular present ajo, first-person singular preterite ajé, past participle ajado)

1. (transitive or reflexive) to fade, wither

   Synonym: marchitar

   El sol ajó las flores.

   The sun withered the flowers.

   Se te olvidó regar esta planta, así que se ajó.

   You forgot to water this plant, so it withered.

2. (transitive or reflexive) to wear out

   Synonyms: desgastar, deteriorar

   El sol y la humedad suelen ajar las alfombras.

   The sun and humidity generally wear rugs out.

3. (transitive or reflexive) to wrinkle

   Synonym: arrugar

   No es bueno guardar los pantalones así, o los vas a ajar.

   It's not good to put away your pants this way, or you're going to wrinkle them.

   Ve a planchar esta camisa, que se te ajó después de que la guardaste doblada.

   Go iron this shirt, as it got wrinkled after you put it away folded.

4. (transitive) to humiliate someone

   Synonym: humillar

From ajo +‎ -ar.

ajar m (plural ajares)

1. garlic field, garlic patch

• “ajar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025