Ah

(used as an exclamation of pain, surprise, pity, complaint, dislike, joy, etc., according to the manner of utterance.)
.
in the year of the Hijra; since the Hijra (a.d. 622).
occurring in a specific year of the Jewish calendar.
Contemporary Examples

ah: Making Same Love—a song about same-sex marriage—was obviously a big risk.
There’s Something About Mary Lambert Abby Haglage September 18, 2013

ah yes, Fifty Shades of Grey, that classic volume of lesbian erotica.
I Tried Cosmo’s Lesbian Sex Tips and They Were Terrible Samantha Allen July 29, 2014

ah, yes—your 39-year-old friend and the wife of 28 years who bore you seven children.
Octo-Mel’s Split Personality Kim Masters May 25, 2009

ah, the pain of drinking at noon, meeting celebrities, and attending gala luncheons.
11 Best Monty Python Moments Natasha Bach November 19, 2013

UNDERWOOD: (now smoking next to the grease dumpster out back) ah wish ah could.
Frank Underwood Will Not Tolerate Insubordination in This Olive Garden Kelly Williams Brown February 23, 2014

Historical Examples

ah, and who knows but what he may come when we are far away!
To The West George Manville Fenn

ah, they are of their insignificance so loftily unconscious.
The Spenders Harry Leon Wilson

“ah, that would be awkward,” said the American thoughtfully.
The Peril Finders George Manville Fenn

ah, I remember the night I was converted, as if it were yesterday.
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327 Various

ah, but it is a long story, my dear lady, and I fear I will bore you.
Droll Stories of Isthmian Life Evelyn Saxton

interjection
an exclamation expressing pleasure, pain, sympathy, etc, according to the intonation of the speaker
abbreviation (indicating years in the Muslim system of dating, numbered from the Hegira (622 AD))
anno Hegirae

mid-15c., an expression of surprise, delight, disgust or pain in nearly all Indo-European languages, but not found in Old English (where the equivalent expression was la!), so perhaps from Old French a “ah!, oh! woe!”

Related Terms

ooh and ah

noun

asshole: You are such an AH
American Health
assisted hatching
ampere-hour
Latin Anno Hebraico (in the Hebrew year)
Latin Anno Hegirae (in the year of the Hegira)