English

already

/ɔːlˈɹɛdi/
Prior to some specified time, either past, present, or future; by this time; previously.

    Etymology graph

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    • meaning component
    • sound component
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    Origin

    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).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishalredy “fully; already”
      • semantic loanYiddishשוין
      • semantic loanMandarin了
    • surface analysisEnglishal-#Etymology_1 “all, completely”
    • surface analysisEnglishready “Prepared for immediate action or use.”

    Related: West Frisian alreeds, Dutch alreeds, Afrikaans alreeds, Middle Low German alreide, German Low German alreeds, Danish allerede, Swedish allaredan, Norwegian Nynorsk allereie

    Words built on it: enough already

    Sources