always
/ˈɔːlweɪz/
adverb
Origin
Old English
eall wæg — all the way
Overview
Meaning Now
- At all times; on all occasions.
- Continuously; throughout the duration of a specified time.
Literal older meaning
all ways
Language path
Proto-Germanic → Old English → Middle English → English
Earliest form
eall wæg
Earliest period
12th century
Journey
The word evolved from a common Germanic construction meaning 'all the way', which was initially used to denote distance or spatial duration before shifting to temporal duration in English.
Evolution
- Old English
ealne weg
“all the way; the whole time”
Accusative case usage indicating duration.
- Middle English
alwei
“at all times”
Reduction of the phrase into a compound.
- Early Modern English
always
“at all times”
Addition of the adverbial genitive -s.
Connections
Word parts
al-
root
all
-way
root
way/path
-s
suffix
adverbial marker
Related across languages
German
allewege
always (archaic)
Dutch
alleweg
always
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Related to always
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.