all
Part of speech: det
pron
adv
noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English all, from Old English eall, from Proto-West Germanic *all, from Proto-Germanic *allaz, of uncertain origin but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“all”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots a, a', aa, aal, aw (“all”), Yola aal, al, all, aul (“all”), North Frisian aal, aale, ale, ali, åle (“all”), Saterland Frisian al (“already”), aal (“all”), West Frisian alle (“all”), Dutch al (“all”), German and Luxembourgish all (“all”), Vilamovian oły, ołły (“all”), Yiddish אַלע (ale, “all”), Danish al (“all”), Faroese and Icelandic allur (“all”), Norwegian Bokmål and Swedish all (“all”), Norwegian Nynorsk aillj, all (“all”), Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌻𐍃 (alls, “all”); also Breton and Welsh holl (“all”), Cornish oll (“all”), Irish alig, eile, uile, uileag, uilig (“all”), Manx ooilley (“all”), Scottish Gaelic uile, uileag (“all”), Lithuanian aliái (“every”), Armenian ողջ (oġǰ, “entire, whole”).
The dialectal sense “all gone” is a calque of German alle. The use in who all, where all etc. also has equivalents in German (see alles).
Inflected forms:
form: a'
pos: det
tags: alternative
alternative
form: al
pos: det
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: a'
pos: pron
tags: alternative
alternative
form: al
pos: pron
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: a'
pos: adv
tags: alternative
alternative
form: al
pos: adv
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: alls
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: a'
pos: noun
tags: alternative
alternative
form: al
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoting the class must be plural or uncountable).
pos: det
examples: All contestants must register for the footrace: we've arranged numbers for them all.
List all books of which you were the sole or co-author.
All flesh is originally grass.
All (the) three of my nephews adore classical music.
Beautie alone is a ſoveraigne remedy againſt feare,griefe,and all melancholy fits; a charm,as Peter de la Seine and many other writers affirme,a banquet it ſelfe;he gives inſtance in diſcontented Menelaus that was ſo often freed by Helenas faire face: and ʰTully, 3 Tusc. cites Epicurus as a chiefe patron of this Tenent.
In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass. In this way all respectable burgesses, down to fifty years ago, spent their evenings.
Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path[…]. It twisted and turned,[…]and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights.
Now, Nielsen is sending all hotel employees through EI training to help them become more open and confident, understand their own limitations and fears, and to boost their self-worth and comfort in dealing with other people.
On the one hand, we had a scenario where, effectively, the American admiral just went "You know what, all the destroyers attack", at which point they mowed through the Japanese destroyers like a Grim Reaper through a harvest of very, very dead gorn, especially with the Brooklyns in support.
gloss: Throughout the whole of (a stated period of time; generally used with units of a day or longer).
pos: det
examples: The store is open all day and all night.
I’ve been working on this all year.
gloss: Only; alone; nothing but.
pos: det
examples: He's all talk; he never puts his ideas into practice.
I was born to speak all mirth and no matter.
gloss: Any.
pos: det
tags: obsolete
examples: without all remedy
gloss: Everything.
pos: pron
examples: Some gave all they had.
She knows all and sees all.
All of Jones’s maneuvers to trounce Kennedy.
All is not well at home lately.
Those who think they know it all are annoying to those of us who do.
Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
gloss: Everyone.
pos: pron
examples: A good time was had by all (of you/us/them).
We all enjoyed the movie.
I've got three children, of whom all are studying medicine.
Hey all, just a quick note as I am trying to do 46 things at once and slow down a touch all at once…
gloss: The only thing(s).
pos: pron
examples: All that was left was a small pile of ash.
We ate potatoes and ziti .... that's all.
gloss: Used after who, what, where, how and similar words, either without changing their meaning, or indicating that one expects that they cover more than one element, e.g. that "Who all attended?" is more than one person. (Some dialects only allow this to follow some words and not others.)
pos: pron
tags: India
Northern-Ireland
Scotland
Southern-US
examples: Q. Now, then, when you started to go to stake the claims, who all went along?
"I mean, you could have called us—collect, o'course—jes' to let us know how-all it's a-goin'."
"Where all did he go? What exactly was his job?" Gary shrugged and produced a weak laugh. "I reckon the Middle East. Ain't that where all the oil is?"
"Do you ever ask me what I want to see? Or ask me about where all I've gone, who all I've met, what all I've done? Never. Not for one second. And why? Because you don't give two hoops about me."
gloss: Wholly; entirely; completely; totally.
pos: adv
tags: childish
emphatic
intensifier
not-comparable
sometimes
examples: She was sitting all alone.
 It suddenly went all quiet.
I'm all done, Mommy! I did it all by myself.
'Tis mystery all: th'Immortal dies
The parson, all unaware, dully pursued his calling, perched above the exquisite derision of their glances.
gloss: Apiece; each.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: The score was 30 all when the rain delay started.
gloss: So much; used with "the" and a comparative.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: Don't want to go? All the better since I lost the tickets.
If he leave the company, I'll have to work all the harder.
gloss: Even; just.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
obsolete
poetic
examples: All as his straying flock he fed.
A damsel lay deploring / All on a rock reclined.
gloss: A quotative particle, compare like.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: She was all, “Whatever.”
gloss: Everything that one is capable of.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: She gave her all, and collapsed at the finish line.
gloss: The totality of one's possessions.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: she therefore ordered Jenny to pack up her alls and begone, for that she was determined she should not sleep that night within her walls. […] I packed up my little all as well as I could, and went off.
gloss: Everything in general; all that matters.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: I will die fighting for my people, because my people are all.
All are one and one is all.
Synonyms: completely
Translations: