English Explanatory Dictionary

already

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adv
  1. Prior to some specified time, either past, present, or future; by this time; previously.
  2. So soon.
  3. An intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation.
  4. Indicates the completion of an action (whether past or hypothetical), or more generally, perfective aspect.
  5. Marks a change in state, more or less in the same manner as the inchoative aspect.

Pronunciation

/ɔːlˈɹɛdi/ /ɑlˈɹɛdi/ /ɔlˈɹɛdi/ en-us-already.ogg /ˈɔlrɛɖi/ /əlˈrɛɖi/

Word forms

already

Etymology

From Middle English alredy (“fully; already”), equivalent to al- (“all, completely”) + ready. Cognate with West Frisian alreeds (“already”), Dutch alreeds (“already”), Afrikaans alreeds (“already”), Middle Low German alreide, alreids ("already"; whence modern German Low German alreeds (“already”)), Danish allerede (“already”), Swedish allaredan (“already”), Norwegian Nynorsk allereie (“already”). More at all, ready. The use as an intensifier in American English is a semantic loan from Yiddish שוין (shoyn), attested from 1903. In Singapore English, the use of already as a marker of action completion and change of state is analogous to Hokkien 了 (liáu), Teochew 了 (liao²) and Mandarin 了 (le). Compare Malay (su)dah and Cantonese 咗 (zo²), 喇 (laa³).

Synonyms

liao

Related words

yet what lah1–14 lor2–3 lor1 ah6 leh1–2 mah leh3–6 one1–3 hor1 know nia only sia hor2 ah1–3 hah1–3 meh ba2 leh7–11 ba1 liao Gupta A. F. (1992) in volume 18 number 1 →DOI

Derived words

alreadiness always already that ship has already sailed that train has already left the station
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