answer
n. countablen. something you say, write, or do when someone asks you a question. It can also be the solution to a problem or a test question.
n. a spoken or written reply to a question. It also refers to the solution to a problem, puzzle, or calculation.
I don't know the answer.
The teacher asked a difficult question, but nobody knew the correct answer.
His evasive answer suggested he was hiding something, leaving the committee more suspicious than it had been before the hearing.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂éntsder. Proto-Germanic *anda- Proto-Indo-European *swer-der. Proto-Germanic *swarō Proto-Germanic *andaswarō Proto-West Germanic *andaswaru Old English andswaru Middle English answere English answer From Middle English answere, andsware, from Old English andswaru (“answer”), from and- (“against”) + swaru (“affirmation”), (from Proto-Indo-European h₂ent- (“front, forehead”) and Old English swerian (“to swear”), from Proto-Indo-European swer-), suggesting an original meaning of "a sworn statement rebutting a charge". The cognates suggest the existence of Proto-Germanic *andaswarō (“a reply to a question”). Cognate with Old Frisian ondser (“answer”), Old Saxon andswōr (“answer”), Danish and Swedish ansvar (“liability, responsibility, answer”), Icelandic andsvar (“answer, response”). Compare also Old English andwyrde (“answer”) (cognate to Dutch antwoord, German Antwort), Old English andcwiss (“reply”), German Schwur (“oath, vow”).
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂éntsder. Proto-Germanic *anda- Proto-Indo-European *swer-der. Proto-Germanic *swarjaną Proto-Germanic *andaswarjaną Old English andswerian Middle English answeren English answer From Middle English answeren, andswaren, answerien, from Old English andswarian, answarien (“to answer, to respond, to deny an allegation under oath”), from Proto-Germanic andaswarōną, andaswarjaną (“to answer, to give a response, to rebut”), from anda- (“against”) + swarjaną, swarōną (“to swear an oath, to answer, to respond”), from Proto-Indo-European h₂ent- (“face, forehead”) and *swer- (“to swear”). Cognate with Old Frisian ondswera (“to answer”), Danish ansvare (“to answer, account for”), Swedish ansvara (“to answer, account for”), Icelandic andsvara (“to answer, reply”).
Often takes the preposition 'to' when followed by the question or problem it resolves (e.g., 'the answer to your question').
the answer of the questionthe answer to the questionThe noun 'answer' collocates with the preposition 'to', not 'of', when referring to the question it resolves.