English Explanatory Dictionary

always

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adv
  1. At all times; throughout all time; since the beginning.
  2. Constantly during a certain period, or regularly at stated intervals (opposed to sometimes or occasionally).
  3. if necessary, or if there is no better option; in any event.
noun
  1. (informal)

Pronunciation

/ˈɔːl.weɪz/ /ˈɔː.weɪz/ /ˈɔːl.wɪz/ En-uk-always.ogg /ˈaː.wɪz/ /ˈɑl.weɪz/ /ˈɑl.wɪz/ /ˈɑl.wiːz/ /ˈɑl.wəz/ /ˈɔl.weɪz/ /ˈɔl.wɪz/ /ˈɔl.wəz/ /ˈɔləs/ En-us-always.ogg [ˈɔː(ɫ)we(ɪ)z] [-wɪz] [-wɛs]

Word forms

always alwayes alwayz alwayez allus

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Indo-European *h₂elnós Proto-Germanic *allaz Proto-West Germanic *all Old English eall Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *wegaz Proto-West Germanic *weg Old English weġ Old English ealneġ Middle English alwey Proto-Germanic *-as Proto-West Germanic *-as Old English -es Middle English -es Middle English alweyes English always From Middle English alweyes, alwayes, alweys, a variant of Middle English alwey, alway (“always”), from Old English ealneġ, ealne weġ (“always, perpetually”, literally “all the way, all the while, continuously”), from ealne + weġ (accusative case), equivalent to alway + -s. Cognate with Scots always (“always”), Low German allerwegens (“very often”, literally “all ways'”). More at all, way.

Synonyms

perpetually continually all the time every time 5ever ad infinitum always aye endlessly eternally ever ever after evermore fivever for good forever forevermore for evermore for ever and ever for ever more incessantly in perpetuity in saecula saeculorum interminably lastingly never-endingly permanently sempiternally unendingly until hell freezes over until Kingdom come invariably uniformly consistently constantly immutably invariously still unalterably unchangeably unchangingly unvaryingly anyhow anyway at any rate regardless after all algate any road up anyhoo anyroad anyways anywise anywho at all events be it what it would come what may hab or nab however in any case

Antonyms

never at no time at latter Lammas in the reign of Queen Dick ne'er never ever not while pussy's a cat on the second Tuesday of the week sine die when Hell freezes over when pigs fly when two Sundays come together when two Sundays meet manywise sundrily variously diversely

Related words

frequency

Derived words

alwaysness a bad penny always comes back a bad penny always turns up a bad workman always blames his tools always already always-on as always good boys deserve fudge always it is always darkest before the dawn it is always darkest just before the dawn the bad penny always comes back the bad penny always turns up the cobbler always wears the worst shoes the customer is always right the darkest hour is always just before the dawn the first step is always the hardest the grass is always greener the grass is always greener on the other side the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence the grass is always greener on the other side of the road the house always wins the poor we will always have with us there's always a bigger fish the shoemaker always wears the worst shoes we have always been at war with Eastasia
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