What part of speech is the word about?

The word "about" can be a few different parts of speech depending on its use in a sentence:

* Preposition: This is the most common usage. It indicates location, direction, or relation.

* Example: "The book is about history."

* Adverb: It can modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb, indicating approximation or general direction.

* Example: "The meeting is about to start."

* Adjective: It can describe something that is approximate or general. This usage is less common.

* Example: "We have an about idea of what we want."

Therefore, to determine the part of speech for "about", you need to consider the context of the sentence.