already
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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 German schon and Yiddish שוין (shoyn).
In Singapore English, the use of already as a marker of action completion and change of state (i.e., perfective and inchoative aspects respectively) is analogous to Hokkien 了 (liáu), Teochew 了 (liao2) and Mandarin 了 (le). Compare Malay (su)dah and Cantonese 喇 (laa3).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɔːlˈɹɛdi/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɔlˈɹɛdi/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ɑlˈɹɛdi/
Audio (US): (file) - Hyphenation: al‧read‧y
- Rhymes: -ɛdi
Adverb
already (not comparable)
- Prior to some specified time, either past, present, or future; by this time; previously.
- I was surprised that she hadn’t already told me the news.
- Much of what he said I knew already.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- Tho, when-as all things ready were aright, / The Damzel was before the Altar ſet, / Being already dead with fearful fright.
- 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:
- slipping then my cloaths off, I crept under the bed-cloaths, where I found the young stripling already nestled, and the touch of his warm flesh rather pleas'd than alarm'd me.
- 1891 June 25, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Adventure I.—A Scandal in Bohemia.”, in Geo[rge] Newnes, editor, The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume II, London: George Newnes, Limited, […], published July 1891, →OCLC:
- It was already dusk, and the lamps were just being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, waiting for the coming of its occupant.
- 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
- Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.
- So soon.
- Are you quitting already?
- (US) An intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation.
- I wish they'd finish already, so we can get going.
- Be quiet already!
- (Singapore, Singlish) Indicates action completion or change of state.
- Synonym: (Singlish) liao
- You frame the picture for me already anot? ― Have you framed the picture yet?
- I don’t think he can take it already. ― I don’t think he can take it any more.
- Your ice cream is melting already. ― Your ice cream is starting to melt.
- Overcook already, need to redo. ― We’ve overcooked it, we need to redo it.
- Your grandmother angry already. ― Your grandmother is now angry.
- 1999, Alfian Sa'at, Corridor, Singapore: SNP Editions, →OCLC, page 136:
- “Yah, I sign already,” my mother replied.
- 2006, Elangovan, Smegma, →ISBN, page 39:
- Cannot wait already, buay tahan already. I hope she doesn’t complain to anyone.
Usage notes
- Already may be used with the present perfect (I have already done that), the past perfect (I had already done it by then), the future perfect (When you arrive, the business will already have been completed) or the simple future (When you arrive, the business will already be complete).
- "Already" and "all ready" do not mean the same thing. The two-word term can be used to mean "fully prepared."
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Gulf Arabic: أوردي (orridi)
Translations
prior to some time
|
so soon
|
intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation
|
See also
References
Anagrams
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