already
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
already
- /ɔːlˈɹɛdi/ UK
- /ɑlˈɹɛdi/ cot caught merger
- /ɔlˈɹɛdi/
Rhymes with -ɛdi
Where it comes from
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).
adverb
- 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.
- So soon. Are you quitting already?
- An intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation. I wish they'd finish already, so we can get going.
- Indicates the completion of an action (whether past or hypothetical), or more generally, perfective aspect. You frame the picture for me already anot?
- Marks a change in state, more or less in the same manner as the inchoative aspect. I don’t think he can take it already.
