All

a., sb. and adv. Forms: Sing. 1– all (late WS. 1–3 eall, eal), 1–7 al (north. 4–5 alle). Pl. 1–5 alle (WS. 1–3 ealle, north. 2–7 al), 5– all. For early inflected forms, see below, D. [Common to all the Teutonic stock, but not found beyond: cf. OS. all, al, OFris. al, ol, OHG. al (all-er), ON. all-r, Goth. all-s. Properly adj. but passing on one side into a sb., on the other into an adv. As an adj. it usually precedes, but sometimes follows its sb.]

  A.  adj. I. with sb.

  1.  With sb. sing. The entire or unabated amount or quantity of; the whole extent, substance, or compass of; the whole.

  a.  with proper names, names of substances, and abstracts, all England, all flesh, all wisdom, all speaking; also with day, night, spring, summer, Lent, August, and other definite portions of time.

886.  O. E. Chron. And him all Angel cyn to cirde.

a. 1000.  Metr. Ps. lv. 9. Ic ealne dǽʓ, ecne Drihten wordum weorðiʓe.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 17. Þrouwede deð for al moncun.

c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 225. Of þan wearð eft ȝestaþeled eall middenard.

c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., B. 779. In longyng al nyȝt he lengeȝ.

1340.  Ayenb., 17. To huam alle triacle went in to venym.

1382.  Wyclif, Matt. xxviii. 18. Al power is ȝouun to me, in heuene and in erthe.

1473.  Warkw., Chron., 3. And so Kynge Edward was possessed of alle Englonde.

1535.  Coverdale, Judg. xix. 13. Tarye at Gibea or at Ramah allnight.

1611.  Bible, 1 Pet. i. 24. All flesh is as grasse.

1665.  Marvell, Corr., 50 (1872–5), II. 186. I … beseech God to continue you in all health and well-fare.

1763.  J. Brown, Poetry & Mus., v. 79. Horace … hath set him above the old Philosophers, as a Teacher of all Virtue.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 576. At Exeter all Devonshire had been gathered together to welcome him.

1862.  Trench, Miracles, Introd. 12. This speaking is diffused over all time.

  (b.)  All that is possible, the greatest possible.

1594.  Shaks., Rich. III., IV. i. 57. St. I in all haste was sent. A. And I with all vnwillingnesse will goe.

1879.  Jefferies, Wild Life in S. Co., 258. A weasel … makes all speed into the fern.

  b.  with a defining word (dem. or poss. adj., genitive case, etc.) all precedes def. word, or, less usually, follows the sb.

855.  O. E. Chron. Ofer al his rice. Ibid. (860). To allum þam rice. Ibid. (870). Þa Deniscan … þæt lond all ʓe eodon.

c. 1280.  A Sarmun, in E. E. P. (1862), 7. Of al þis ioi þer nis non end.

1297.  R. Glouc., 122. And schewede hem al þe wey wyder he schulde wende.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 660. And songen al the roundel lustily.

1593.  Shaks., Rich. II., III. ii. 174. You haue but mistooke me all this while.

1667–8.  Marvell, Corr., 84 (1872–5), II. 231. We are, as for all other your kindnesse, obliged to you.

1682.  Dryden, Medal, 304. Frogs and Toads and all the Tadpole Train.

1830.  Tennyson, May Queen, II. 24. And all the world is still. Ibid. (1847), Princess, I. 193. With all my heart, With my full heart.

  c.  So when the sb. is understood, as all this, all that, all mine, all your friend’s. All now follows it; as take it all (or all of it).

a. 700.  on Ruthwell Cross. Ic þæt al biheald.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 49. God þe al þis heom haueð isend.

c. 1220.  Hali Meid., 31. Þat heo hit al weldeð.

c. 1300.  Leg. Rood, 18. Al hit com of one more.

Mod.  All this is distasteful to me. I see it all now.

  † d.  Following the. Obs. rare.

1297.  R. Glouc., 367. Þer nas prince in þe al worlde of so noble fame.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., 313. Ech preest which schulde folewe thilk ensaumpling thoruȝ the al fulnes and likenes of it.

  † e.  Followed by a. Obs. repl. by a whole.

c. 1300.  St. Brand., 60. Her ȝe habbeth al a ȝer meteles i-beo.

c. 1340.  Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 3010. A malady … lastand alle a yhere.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 2215. Þei trauailed al a niȝt.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Frankl. T., 620. She wepeth, wailleth, al a day or two.

1523.  Ld. Berners, Froissart, I. liv. 75. Ther was one [assault] endured al a day.

  2.  With sb. pl. The entire number of; the individual components of, without exception. (All precedes the sb. or defining adj.; rarely, in poetry, follows the sb.).

  a.  without defining word.

878.  O. E. Chron. Him to comon onʓen Sumor sæte alle and Wilsætan.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., I. 296. Wið ealle wundela, genim þas wyrte.

1154.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1135. Þa þestrede þe dæi ouer al landes.

c. 1220.  Hali Meid., 5. Freo ouer alle fram alle worldliche weanen.

1366.  Maundev., ii. 10. Alle Men knowen not that.

1570.  Ascham, Scholem., II. (Arb.), 118. Marke all aiges.

1606.  Shaks., Ant. & Cl., I. iv. 9. A man who is th’ abstracts of all faults That all men follow.

1742.  Young, Nt. Th., I. 424. All men think all men mortal, but themselves.

1807.  Crabbe, Par. Reg., III. 52. All men have done, and I like all, amiss.

1860.  Abp. Thomson, Laws of Th., § 77. 131. The word All in its proper logical sense means ‘each and every;’ but it stands sometimes for ‘all taken together.’

1873.  Symonds, Grk. Poets, iii. 89. Theognis bids his friend [Cyrnus] be as much as possible all things to all men.

  b.  with defining word. (Also with sb. understood, as all those, all mine, all Henry’s.)

885.  O. E. Chron. And þa scipo alle ʓeræhton.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxvi. 35. Ealle þa oþre leorning-cnihtas.

c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 219. He and halle his iféren.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 97. Ealle þas þing and moniȝe oðre.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. I. 55. I fonde þere Freris, alle þe foure ordres.

1660.  T. Stanley, Hist. Phil. (1701), 113/1. He form’d a Law, which all the old Men follow’d.

1782.  Cowper, J. Gilpin, 114. The dogs did bark, the children screamed, Up flew the windows all.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 171. They had watched all his motions, and lectured him on all his youthful follies.

  c.  with a pers. or rel. pron. (In the nom. all was formerly often prefixed; e.g., all we, for which the mod. usage is we all, or all of us.)

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Saints’ L., i. 140. Ealle hí sind on Godes ʓesihðe.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 125. Ure drihten and ure alesend i-unne us allen.

c. 1200.  Moral Ode, 176. Ealle he scullè þuder come.

1382.  Wyclif, Isa. liii. 6. Alle wee as shep erreden. [1611 Alle we like sheepe haue gone astray.]

1557.  More, Edward V. (1641), 15. The place that they al preach of.

1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 79. Euery man for him selfe, and god for us all.

1593.  Shaks., Rich. II., III. ii. 142. Yea, all of them at Bristow lost their heads.

1665.  Ld. Dorset, (title), To all you Ladies now on Land.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 93, ¶ 1. We all of us complain of the Shortness of Time.

1798.  Coleridge, Anc. Mar., IV. iv. And they all dead did lie.

1820.  Keats, St. Agnes, xi. They are all here to-night.

Mod.  We all know him; all of us have said so at times; I saw you all; I have heard it from all of you. He took down all our names, or the names of all of us. ‘And so say all of us.’

  † 3.  = Every. L. omnis, Fr. tout (tout homme). Obs. exc. as in b.

  This use, unknown to OE., seems to have begun with thing, in which the sing. and pl. being alike, alle thing passed from pl. into coll., and then simple sing. In later times often combined, althing (cf. anything, something, nothing), and used advb.: see below C 2 b. All day seems to be after Fr. toujours. The extension to all-kin, all-gate, all man, all body, etc., seems northern; aa’thing, aa’bodie, aa’gate, are still common Sc. for everything, everybody, every way. (See also infra C 2 b.)

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Saints’ L., i. 136. God ælmihtiʓ wát ealle þing togædere … ealle þing þe æfre wæron.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 7. Wurðian alre erest þin feder and þin moder ouer alle eordliche þing.

1297.  R. Glouc., 371. Edgar Aþelyng And kyng Macolom were þo glade þoru alle þyng.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., IV. xi. And þis we seeþ al day [quotidie], with oure yen [ed. 1582 this we see each day].

1526.  Tindale, Phil. ii. 14. Do all thynge [1611 all things] without murmurynge.

1549.  Bk. Com. Prayer, Pref. on Ceremonies. Some bee so newe fangle that they woulde innovate all thyng [1604 all things].

1556.  Lauder, Tract., 144. Ȝour … dewtie … That ȝe aucht tyll all Creature.

1558.  Kennedy, in Wod. Soc. Misc., I. 174. Lat all Christiane man haue refuge to the juge.

1570.  Ascham, Scholem., 62. Good order in all thyng.

  b.  esp. with kin (obs.: see ALKIN), kind, and manner.

1366.  Maundev., xx. 215. Spices and alle manere of marchaundises.

1535.  Coverdale, Josh. iii. 15. All maner watris of the londe.

1548.  Udall, etc., Erasm. Paraphr., Pref. 14. Void of almaner parcialitie of affection.

1607.  Shaks., Timon, I. i. 67. All kinde of natures that labour on the bosome of this Sphere.

a. 1609.  ? Shaks., Lover’s Compl., 121. All kind of arguments.

c. 1680.  Beveridge, Serm. (1729), II. 21. Avoid all manner of evil.

1711.  Steele, Spect., No. 32, ¶ 2. I shall be quite out of all manner of Shape.

1817.  Jas. Mill, Brit. India, II. V. iv. 437. Orders which might be construed all manner of ways.

Mod.  All kind of drollery.

  4.  = Any whatever. In universally exclusive sentences or clauses; as without all (cf. L. sine omni). Now only in such phr. as beyond all question, doubt, controversy, etc., or where the exclusion is expressed by a verb, as To deny, disclaim, renounce, all connection.

c. 1400.  Apol. for Loll., 72. If þe kirk, wiþ out oole autorite, solempnize matrimoyn forbidun of þe general kirk.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., IV. ix. 472. Nile ȝe swere alwise.

1587.  Holinshed, Scot. Chron. (1806), I. 315. Such of the people as … fell into their hands, were slaine without all mercie.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., III. ii. 11. Things without all remedie, Should be without regard.

1652.  Needham, trans. Selden’s Mare Cl., 75. The Carthaginians enjoyed the command of the Sea without all Controversie.

1847.  Longf., Ev., I. iii. 10. Without all guile or Suspicion … was he.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., III. 382. He disclaimed all intention of attacking the memory of Lord Russell.

  II.  absol.

  5.  As antecedent to relative: All that, all those, the accompanying demonstrative having been dropped from the earliest times before the relative that (what obs., cf. Ger. alles was), which latter is now often dropped also: ‘all we have’ = all that that we have.

827.  O. E. Chron. Al þæt be suþan Humbre wæs. Ibid. (874). On allum þam þe him læstan woldon.

c. 1320.  Cast. Loue, 535. Ichulle al don þat þi wille is.

1587.  Golding, De Mornay, i. 8. Yee Rivers, and all that euer is.

1607.  Shaks., Timon, IV. ii. 35. To haue his pompe, and all what state compounds.

1667.  Milton, P. L., IX. 569. To tell thee all What thou commandst.

1690.  Locke, Hum. Underst., Wks. 1727, I. I. iv. § 11. 25. This is all could be infer’d from the Notion of a God.

1790.  Burke, Fr. Rev., 43. To derive all we possess as an inheritance from our forefathers.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., xxiii. 17. And all we met was fair and good, And all was good that Time could bring.

  6.  Followed by of: in sing. The entire amount, every part, the whole; in pl. Every individual, all the members or examples. (This const. is comparatively modern, and is probably due to form-assoc. with none of, some of, little of, much of, few of, many of.) Rare, exc. with pronouns, as all of it, of whom, of which, of them.

  [See pronominal examples under 2 c.]

c. 1800.  Montgomery, Hymn. ’Tis not the whole of life to live, Nor all of death to die.

1858.  Sears, Athan., X. 81. The Sadducees held that all of human existence was bounded between birth and death.

  7.  as pl. = All men, all people.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Mark xiii. 37. Soðlice þæt ic eow secʓe, eallum [Lindisf., Rushw. allum, Hatt. eallen] ic hit secʓe.

1382.  Wyclif, Eph. iv. 6. O God, and fadir of alle, the which is aboue alle men, and by alle thingis, and in vs alle.

1593.  Shaks., Rich. II., III. ii. 160. Some poyson’d by their Wiues, some sleeping kill’d, All murther’d.

1611.  Bible, 1 Tim. iv. 15. That thy profiting may appeare to all.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 122, ¶ 2. Beloved and esteemed by all about him.

1878.  Birm. Weekly Post, 2 Feb. An inn in Marlborough has the sign ‘The Five Alls.’ They are—a king, with the motto, ‘I govern all;’ a bishop, with ‘I pray for all;’ a lawyer, ‘I plead for all;’ a soldier, ‘I fight for all;’ a labourer, ‘I pay for all.’

  8.  as sing. = Everything.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Saints’ L., i. 139. God is æʓhwǽr eall.

1470.  Malory, Arthur (1816), I. 303. But in God is all.

1589.  Pappe w. Hatchet (1844), 21. Alls as it is taken; marie the diuell take al.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 105. What though the field be lost? All is not lost.

1785.  Crabbe, Newsp., 235. Something to all men, and to some men all.

1870.  Lowell, Study Wind., 211. Browning … draws nearer to the all-for-point fashion of the concettisti, with every poem he writes.

1866.  G. Macdonald, Ann. Q. Neighb., i. 10. ‘I wanted to see yer face, sir, that was all.’

  b.  All but: Everything short of. Hence (adverbially) Almost, very nearly, well nigh.

1598.  J. Bastard, in Farr’s S. P., II. 306. Man … All but resembleth God, all but his glasse, All but the picture of his maiestie.

a. 1678.  Marvell, Poems, Wks. III. 412. Society is all but rude To this delicious solitude.

1831.  Carlyle, Sart. Res., II. ii. 111. The all-but omnipotence of early culture.

1862.  Stanley, Jew. Ch. (1877), I. v. 87. These were all but unknown to Greeks and Romans.

1866.  Pusey, Mirac. Prayer, 12. An all-but-infinite variety of phænomena.

1878.  Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 203. The best and all-but-sufficing answer.

  c.  And all: And everything else, and everything connected therewith, et cetera; hence, Too, also, as well (especially in dial. speech; Sc. ‘Woo’d an’ married an’ a’’). And all that: and all the rest of it, et cetera.

c. 1535.  Tindale, Wks., 1849, II. 11. He will save Devils and all.

1538.  Bale, Thre Lawes, 1007. The wolle, skynne, flesh and all.

c. 1540.  Croke, Ps. li. The walles, and all, shalbe made newe.

1662.  More, Antid. Ath., III. x. (1712), 120. Down came John, Pipe and all.

1681.  Trial S. Colledge, 29. Jeff. Who were the All? Dugdale. King and Clergy-men and all.

1702.  De Foe, New Test., in Somers, Tracts (1751), III. 14. They did it to Purpose, carried all before them, subdued Monarchy, cut of their King’s Head, and all that.

1828.  Scott, F. M. Perth, I. 37. With smithy, bellows, tongs, anvil, and all.

1857.  Helps, Friends in C., Ser. I. I. 122. ‘Region of subtle sympathies,’ and all that.

  d.  All in all: All things in all respects, all things altogether in one. Also adverbially and subst. (See in all below, 9 d.)

1539.  (‘great’) and 1611.  Bible, 1 Cor. xv. 28. That God maye be all in all [Wyclif, alle thingis in alle thingis, Tindale, all in all thinges].

1596.  R. Carew, in Shaks. Cent. Praise, 20. Will you have all in all for Prose and verse?

1767.  Fordyce, Serm. Yng. Wom., I. i. 27. Mirth and diversion are all in all.

a. 1824.  Campbell, On receiv. Seal, xii. The all-in-all of life—Content!

1824.  Byron, Don J., II. clxxxix. They were All in all to each other.

1859.  Tennyson, Vivien, 248. And trust me not at all or all in all. Ibid. (1878), Q. Mary, III. vi. 136. Their Flemish go-between And all-in-all.

  e.  phr. When all comes (goes) to all: when everything is summed up, wound up, cleared up, explained; when one gets to the bottom of everything. arch.

1519.  Horman, Vulg., 123. Whan it cometh all to all.

1526.  Skelton, Magnyf., 1732. For your sake, what so ever befall; I set not a flye, and all go to all.

1580.  North, Plutarch (1676), 141. When all came to all nothing was done.

1668.  Pepys, Diary, 19 Aug. When all come to all, a fit of jealousy about Tom.

  9.  Hence, in many prepositional phrases.

  a.  Preceded by above, after, before, beyond, for, = Everything, (or often) everything else, everything to the contrary. Hence, after all: after considering everything to the contrary, nevertheless; once for all: once only; for good and all: finally (see GOOD).

1611.  Bible, Hebr. x. 10. By the which will we are sanctified … once for all.

1712.  Steele, Spect., No. 462, ¶ 1. But after all he is very pleasant Company.

1763.  Boswell, Johnson (1826), I. 356. Here it is proper, once for all, to give a true and fair statement.

1768.  Sterne, Sent. Journ. (1778), II. 11. I stopp’d to bid her adieu for good and all.

1809.  W. Irving, Knickerb., VII. xi. (1849), 440. Yot after all he was a mere mortal.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 172. Above all, he had been long an exile.

  b.  At all: In every way, in any way. Formerly affirmatively = altogether, wholly; now only in negative or interrogative sentences, or conditional clauses: e.g., I did not speak at all; did you speak at all? if you spoke at all.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 283. I þe coniure · & comande att alle.

c. 1400.  Epiph. (Turnb., 1843), 110. Myrre betokneth to us at all Of hys monhode that is mortall.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, Prol. 34. My waverand wyt, my cunnyng febill at all.

1535.  Coverdale, Jer. vi. 14. Sayenge: peace, peace, when there is no peace at all.

1552–5.  Latimer, Serm. & Rem. (1845), 52. They were careless at all, they thought all things were cocksure.

1611.  Bible, 1 Sam. xx. 6. If thy father at all misse me.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 557. If he refuses to govern us at all, we are not bound to remain … without a government.

1876.  Freeman, Norm. Conq., III. xii. 185. Without any form of trial at all. Ibid., IV. xvii. 55. For that very cause, it soon ceased to be a garrison at all.

  † (b.)  substantively. Obs.

1672.  Marvell, Reh. Transp., II. 3. He is so self-sufficient, and an At-all of so many capacities.

  c.  For all, adv. and prep., Notwithstanding: see FOR.

a. 1400.  Kyng of Tars, 1134. [He] smot him so fer al his scheld.

1526.  Tindale, Acts xvi. 39. They have beaten us openley … for all that we are Romans.

1611.  Bible, John xxi. 11. For all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

1741.  Richardson, Pamela, I. 28. Sit still, Pamela, and mind your Work, for all me. Ibid., IV. 178. A sad Situation I am in … for all that.

1795.  Burns, ‘A man ’s a man for a’ that.’

  d.  In all: In the whole number, all together; also, in whole.

c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 4387. V. hundred knyȝtis in al þay wore.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden, Rolls Ser. III. 363. He lived in alle þre and sixti ȝere.

1611.  Bible, 1 Chron. ii. 6. Fiue of them in all.

1654.  Gentilis, trans. Servita’s Hist. Inquis. (1676), 870. It is received either in part or in all, or in part or in all laid aside.

1856.  Farmer’s Mag., Jan., 33. ‘Work, work, work!’ are the in-all and the end-all of existence to him.

1882.  Mar. Ins. Policy. All and every other Person or Persons to whom the same doth, may, or shall appertain, in Part, or in All.

  † e.  Mid all (obs.), with all: † (a.) Altogether, quite (obs.); (b.) see WITHAL.

c. 885.  K. Ælfred, Gregory, xix. 144. Ða hie swiðe stiðliche arasiað, & mid ealle ofðrysceað.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom. Mid alle fordon.

c. 1230.  Ancr. R., 100. A grim word mid alle.

a. 1300.  E. E. Psalter xxi. 27. Loove Laverd þai sal with al.

1297.  R. Glouc., 28. He lette close fuyr in metal quoynteliche withalle.

  f.  Of all, from its use after a superlative, as in first of all (see D. II) was formerly used elliptically = Most of all, beyond all.

1590.  Marlowe, Edw. II., IV. v. Vild wretch, and why hast thou, of all unkind, Borne arms against thy brother.

1605.  Andrewes, Serm. (1841), II. 158. From each part;—but of all, from the last part.

1649.  Lovelace, Poems, 30. She Whom thou of all ador’st.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 135, ¶ 4. First of all by its abounding in monosyllables.

  † g.  Over all: Everywhere (Ger. überall, Fr. partout). Obs.

1297.  R. Glouc., 375. Tresour aboute & oþer god oueral apertelyche.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 549. Over al there he cam.

  h.  With all: see e (above) and WITHAL.

  III.  Combined with other adjectives.

  † 10.  Emphasized by whole: all whole, whole all (see ALLWHOLE), all and whole, entire; advb. entirely. Obs.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., I. viii. 39. These ij officis maken the hool al werk. Ibid., I. ii. 11. It upon which the al hool substaunce of the wal … stondith. Ibid., II. vii. 177. It is open ynouȝ to alle hem whiche wolen biholde al the hool proces … But according to the hool al processe.

1579.  W. Fulke, Heskins’ Parl., 154. All the whole vpper house is manifestly contrarie vnto it.

1601.  Holland, Pliny (1634), I. 402. The lower sort of these trees the floud couereth all and whole.

  † 11.  All both, all two. Obs. (Fr. tous les deux.)

c. 1420.  Chron. Vilod., 892. Þey weron as bleynd all bothe, y wys, as ever was ony stok or stoune.

  12.  Distributed to each member or part of the whole, by the forms all and some (arch.), one and all, each and all, all and each, all and sundry, etc.

  a.  Of these all and some (see SOME) has the longest history.

c. 1325.  Cour de L., 5846. They that wolde nought Crystene become, Richard leet sleen hem alle and some.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1329. These lordes alle and some Been in the Sonday to the cité come.

1460.  Play Sacr., 402. Whyle they were alle together & sum … Comedite corpus meum.

1600.  Holland, Livy, XXVII. xiii. 637 e. To endeavour and strain themselves, both all and some [singulis universisque].

1681.  Dryden, Abs. & Achit., II. 457. Now stop your noses, readers all and some.

1870.  Morris, Earthly Par., II. III. 478. Two hours after midnight all and some into the hall to wait his word should come.

  ¶  It has been suggested that in this phrase some was a corruption of isame (isome) ‘together,’ but the phonology shows that it is not so; with the first quot. above cf. this from the same poem:

c. 1325.  Cœur de L., 4385. Among the toun folk was no game; To counsayl they gaderyd hem insame.

  † b.  Al and som (some) was also used in sing., as if confused with sum; = The whole sum, the sum total; advb. entirely. Obs.

1303.  R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 169. Þe tale ys wrytyn al and sum In a boke of Vitas Patrum.

c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 3014. He shridde him þer-with … & cloþed him al & some.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Wife’s T., Prol. 91. This is all and som [v.r. sum, some, somme].

c. 1480.  Childe of Bristowe, 338, in Hazl., E. P. P., 123. By that the fourtenyht was come, his gold was gon, al and some.

1520–41.  Wyatt, Wks. (1861), 773. Henceforth, my Poins, this shall be all and sum.

1625.  trans. Gonsalvio’s Sp. Inquis., Pref. Herein resteth all and some concerning these matters.

  c.  One and all, all and each, each and all, all and sundry, all and every.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, IX. viii. 16. With huge clamoure followand ane and all.

1782.  Cowper, J. Gilpin, 239. And all and each that passed that way Did join in the pursuit.

1816.  Scott, Old Mort., xxxvi. All and sundry his moveable goods and gear … inbrought to his Majesty’s use.

1837.  J. Lang, New S. Wales, I. 185. Rendering it virtually imperative on all and sundry to follow his example.

  B.  sb. (through the absolute use in A 8.)

  1.  Usually with poss. pron., as our all: Everything that we have, or that concerns or pertains to us; whole interest, concern, possession, property.

1627.  Feltham, Resolves, Wks. 1677, I. xxxi. 55. He shall not command the All of an honest man.

1681.  Nevile, Plato Rediv., 235. Those matters … which concern our All.

1707.  Addison, State of War, 242. Our All is at stake.

1722.  Wollaston, Relig. Nat., viii. 157. When two persons throw their all into one stock as joint-traders for life.

1794.  Burke, Corr. (1844), IV. 221. We are, as I think, fighting for our all.

1862.  Trench, Mirac., iii. 143. Whatever it was, it was their all.

  b.  In this sense it has been used with a pl.

1721.  Mrs. Centlivre, Perpl. Lovers, I. 267. I’d pluck up a courage, pack up my Awls and match with him.

1752.  Fielding, Amelia, VII. iii. (1775), 296. [My father] bid me pack up my alls and immediately prepare to quit his house.

1763.  Bickerstaff, Love in Vill., 44. So pack up your alls, and be trudging away. [Still a common phrase in Scotland.]

  c.  Antithetically, with little.

1631.  Quarles, Sampson (1717), 280. That little All Was left, was all corrupt.

1738.  Johnson, London, 189. [You] leave your little all to flames a prey.

1738.  Wesley, Hymn, ‘Long have I viewed.’ My little All I give to Thee.

1755.  Johnson, Boswell (1826), I. 226. No man is well pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever so little.

Mod.  Many a struggling tradesman lost his little all in the fire.

  2.  Whole being, entirety, totality.

1674.  N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 145. The laws of motion, in the round All of bodies.

1761.  Law, Comf. Weary Pilgr. (1809), 86. This pure love introduces the creature into the all of God.

1843.  Carlyle, Past & Pr., 169. An All of rotten Formulas.

  3.  Whole system of things, τὸ πᾶν, the Universe.

1598.  J. Bastard, in Farr, S. P., II. 316. Man is the little world (so we him call), The world the little god, God the Great All.

1612.  Wither, Prince Henry’s Obs., in Juven. (1633), 298. Living in any corner of this All.

a. 1649.  Drumm. of Hawth., Wks., 1711, Poems 25. Come see that King, which all this All commands.

1714.  Mandeville, Fab. Bees (1733), II. 21. The beautiful all, must be the workmanship of one great architect of power and wisdom stupendious.

1839.  Bailey, Festus, xxviii. (1848), 329. The atom and the all Commune and know each other.

1850.  Carlyle, Latt.-day Pamph., vi. (1872), 200. No pin’s point can you mark within the wide circle of the All where God’s Laws are not.

  C.  adv. I. General construction.

  1.  All adj. is often separated from the sb. which it defines, by an auxiliary vb. or clause, and so appears to refer to the predicate; as ‘Zion our mother is all wofull,’ where all, originally an attribute or complement of Zion, comes to be viewed as qualifying woful = altogether woful.

a. 1000.  Cædmon, Gen. (Grein), 756. Hit is Adame nu eall forgolden.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 9579. Issraæle þeod tatt wass All wesste & all forrworrpenn.

c. 1220.  Hali Meid., 21. Ah al is meidenes song unlich þeose.

1382.  Wyclif, Prov. xii. 3. The roote of riȝtwis men shal not ben al moued.

1483.  Caxton, G. de la Tour, C vij. The lady wente oute of her wytte and was al demonyak.

1533.  More, Answ. Poysoned Bk., Wks. 1557, 1056/1. His exposicion fitteth all fro the poynte.

1611.  Bible, Nah. iii. 1. Woe to the bloody City, it is all full of lyes and robberie.

1814.  Byron, Corsair, III. xv. 18. I am not all deserted on the main.

1826.  Disraeli, Viv. Grey, VII. v. 405. His Royal Highness all smiles, and his Consort all diamonds.

1850.  T. T. Lynch, Theoph. Trinal, xi. 224. Another is all frivolity.

1879.  Tennyson, Lover’s T., 59. Six stately virgins, all in white.

  2.  Whence, as true adv. modifying adj. or adv.: Wholly, completely, altogether, quite (cf. ALL- E. 6, 7).

a. 1000.  Crist (Grein), 1221. Eall æfter rihte.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 191. Þurch onde com deað in to þe worelde al umbegonge.

1340.  Ayenb., 89. Nou ich þe habbe al uolliche ysseaued þet ich leue.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, I. 392. All othir contenance had he.

c. 1425.  Wyntoun, Cron., VI. vi. 29. Hyr chyld-ill al suddanly Travalyd hyr sa angrily.

1541.  Elyot, Image Govt., 33. But it succeeded all other wise.

1693.  Mem. Count Teckely, I. 57. They endeavour all anew to put those … in a state uncapable.

1793.  Southey, Triumph of Wom., 63. Wks. II. 7. All hopelessly our years of sorrow flow.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 480. All at once … the whole fleet tacked.

1880.  Browning, Clive, 28. All-agog to have me trespass.

  † b.  In this sense all thing was also used. (Cf. ‘nothing loath.’) Obs.

1534.  More, Comf. agst. Trib., III. Wks. 1557, 1217/1. I am not all thinge afearde in this case.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., III. i. 14. It had bene as a gap in our great Feast, And all-thing vnbecomming.

1665.  Ray, Flora, 189. The flowers are not all-thing so broad.

  3.  Even, just; passing into a mere intensive or emphasizing adjunct. (Cf. ALSO.) arch.

1579.  W. Fulke, Heskins’ Parl., 195. Al bicause he would not acknowledge the presence of Christ.

1633.  P. Fletcher, Purple Isl., V. lxviii. All so, who strives … To bring his dead soul to the joyfull skie.

1720.  Gay, Blackeyed Susan. All in the Downs the fleet was moored.

1808.  Scott, Marm., I. xi. He … Gave them a chain of twelve marks’ weight All as he lighted down.

  4.  All through, wholly, entirely, without admixture.

1705.  Lond. Gaz., mmmmclix/4. Stolen … a black Gelding … trots all, except forced, and then paces a little. Ibid., mmmmclv/4. Trots and gallops all. Ibid., mmmmclxxviii/4. Paces all.

  II.  Special constructions.

  5.  All one. † a. All together. Obs. b. (also all a.) One and the same, quite the same. All of a: see A adj.² 3. (See also ALONE.)

1205.  Layam., 29080. Þa weoren heo al an.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Wicket, 5. It is … all one to denye Christes wordes for heresye and Christe for an heretyke.

1581.  Marbeck, Bk. Notes, 935. It is all one water whether Symon Peter, or Symon Magus be christened in it.

1691.  Ray, Acc. Errors, in Coll. E. W., 154. As for the vulgar and illiterate it is all one to them.

1702.  Eng. Theophr., 138. That which a man causes to be done, he does himself, and ’tis all a case.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe (1858), 373. It was all one, he could not sleep.

1768.  Blackstone, Comm., IV. 20. What persons are, or are not, capable of committing crimes; or, which is all one, who are exempted from the censures of the law.

1829.  Scott, Guy M., xxxvi. ‘It’s a’ ane to Dandie.’

Mod.  It’s all one to me whether I go or stay.

  6.  Pleonastically in the combinations ALL-WHOLE, ALL-WHOLLY, ALL-UTTERLY, q.v. (See also A 10.)

  7.  With adverbs of degree, all gives emphasis, = Quite, altogether, as all so, all too. (All so is now obs., exc. in the combined form ALSO q.v.)

a. 1000.  Ælfred’s Death (Grein), 13. Eal swá ʓebundenne.

c. 1200.  Moral Ode, 328. Of þesse riche we þencheð to ofte, of þare alto selde.

c. 1384.  Chaucer, H. of Fame, 288. Dido … That loued alto sone a gest.

1587.  Holinshed, Scot. Chron. (1806), II. 175. The King … did send forth, but all too late, Andrew Wood.

1597.  Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., V. ii. 24. Our argument Is all too heavy to admit much talke.

1805.  Southey, Madoc in Azt., xvii. Wks. V. 322. Give me the boy … he travels all too slow.

1831.  Carlyle, Sart. Res. (1858), 182. Thy all-too Irish mirth and madness.

1840.  Gen. P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), V. 191. War is all soon enough when it cannot be helped.

  8.  With adv. the: By that amount, to that extent, just so much.

1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., I. ii. 102. All the better: we shalbe the more Marketable.

1879.  Tennyson, Lover’s T., 82. He was all the more resolv’d to go.

  9.  With adverbs of place: In all directions, in every part; as all about, all round. Special idioms are all along (see ALONG), ALL OUT, ALL OVER, ALL ROUND, all together or ALTOGETHER, all one or ALONE q.v.

c. 1300.  Beket, 2253. And crope ek as emeten alaboute. Ibid., 820. Seint Thomas was albenethe.

1480.  Caxton, Descr. Brit., 4. Britayne is all aboute xlviii sithe lxx thousand paas.

1699.  Bentley, Phalaris, 130. He is all-over mistaken.

1879.  Tennyson, Lover’s T., 75. Beheld All round about him.

  10.  With conjunctions. † a. With if and though in if all, though all, all emphasized the supposition or concession, = Even if, even though. Thus: If all they keep = if wholly or really they keep, even if they do keep. Obs.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron., 37. Þof alle Edgar þe gate, Estrild þi moder ware.

1366.  Maundev., ii. 13. Ȝif alle it be so, that Men seyn.

c. 1375.  Wyclif, Antecrist, 145. If al þei kepen neiþer.

  † b.  The more common order was all if, all though; the former is now obs., the latter written as one word ALTHOUGH q.v.

c. 1340.  Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 3045. Þe saul, al-if it haf na body.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, 3 Treat., 17. Al ȝif thei shulen aftir be dampnyd.

1514.  Barclay, Cyt. & Uplondyshm., 41. All if I would, it were but shame. Ibid. (1557), Jugurtha (Paynell), A ij. All if he haue power so to do.

  † c.  With the subj. mood, though or if, being expressed by the reversed position of vb. and subject (as in be they = if they be), were omitted, leaving all apparently = although. Thus: al be I = all though I be. Obs. exc. in synthetic phrases ALBEIT, ALBE q.v.

c. 1365.  Chaucer, A. B. C., 46. Al have I ben a beste in witte and dede, Yet, Lady! thou me close in with thyn grace. Ibid. (c. 1384), H. Fame, 1820. Al be ther in me no Iustice Me lyst not doo hyt nowe. Ibid. (c. 1386), Prol., 736. Al speke he never so rudely, ne large.

1532.  More, Conf. Tindale, Wks. 1557, 385/2. All were he neuer so olde eare he were baptysed.

1560.  H. Cole, Lett. to Jewel. We brought more than ye were able to answer, all were it no Scriptures, nor Councels, nor Doctours.

1599.  Bp. Hall, Satires, III. i. 50. All could he further then earths center go.

1659.  Fuller, App. Inj. Innoc. (1840), 532. From whence came Smith, albe he knight or squire, But from the smith that forgeth at the fire.

  11.  With prep. of extension in space or time, all gives completeness, as all round, down, over, through, etc.

1622.  Middleton, etc., Old Laws, V. i. That’s equal change all the world over.

1795.  Nelson, in Nicolas’s Disp., II. 11. The wind all round the compass.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 455. All down the Rhine, from Carlsruhe to Cologne.

1875.  Higginson, Hist. U. S., xxvi. 264. This made a great excitement all over the country.

  † 12.  With prep. referring to a point of space: Quite, entirely. All to naught, to absolute nothingness, ‘away to nothing.’ To call all to naught: to vilify. Cf. 15 below. Obs.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 35. Þu forwurðest eca … al to nohte.

a. 1230.  Ancr. R., 380. [He] tukeð ham alto wundre.

c. 1300.  Beket, 22. The Princes Douȝter … that hire hurte al upe him.

1559.  Homilies, I. (1859), 134. David, when Semei did call him all to naught, did not chide again.

1592.  Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 993. It was not she that call’d him all to naught.

a. 1617.  P. Bayne, Ephes. (1658), 102. Hee … doth give his son all to death.

1626.  Bacon, Sylva, § 540. The sap is not so frank as to rise all to the boughs.

  13.  With to of the dative inf.: Expressly, just.

c. 1300.  Beket, 99. Red alto afonge.

1607.  Hieron, Wks., II. 249. The Spirit of God came … all to shew how these men were inabled of God.

  † 14.  All emphasized the particle combined with a vb.:

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 76. Al bismotered with his habergeon.

especially the prefix to- = ‘asunder’ (LG. ter-, HG. zer-, L. dis), as in to-break, to-burst, to-cut, to-gnaw, to-hew, to-rend, to-rive, to-shake, to-shiver, to-tear, to-tread, to-wend. Thus all to-broken, (G. all zerbrochen) ‘quite broken in pieces.’ As these derivative vbs. were at length rarely used without all, the fact that the to- belonged to the vb. was lost sight of, and it was written separate, or even joined to all, as al to-torn, al to torn, alto torn. Obs.

a. 1000.  Gregory’s Dial., III. xvi. (Cott. MS. 77 b). Þæt he sceolde beon eal to sliten from ðam clifstanum.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 113. Ure helende … alto shiurede þe ȝiaten.

c. 1330.  Arth. & Merl., 4853. That he tak he alto rof.

c. 1400.  Sege of Melayne, 262. Riche hawberkes were all to-rent.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., V. i. 484. That her ordre schulde be alto broke.

1483.  Caxton, Gold. Leg., 236/1. They … were alle to cutte with the stones.

1493.  W. de Worde, Communyc. (1535), B iij. With thy tongue thou me all to terest.

1587.  Fleming, Contn. Holinshed, III. 1991/1. Which the Scots in times past haue all to broken.

1611.  Bible, Judg. ix. 53. And a certaine woman cast a piece of a milstone vpon Abimelechs head, and all to brake his scull.

1637.  Milton, Comus, 380. Her wings … Were altoruffled, and sometimes impaired.

  † 15.  Hence, by form-assoc., all to, allto, alto was extended to other verbs as = ‘wholly, completely, utterly, soundly’; in later times esp. with vbs. in be-; as all-to-befool, all-to-begod, all-to-beblubber, all-to-benight. Obs.

1534.  More, Comf. agst. Trib., III. Wks. 1557, 1224/1. She fel in hand with hym and all to rated him.

1538.  Latimer, Serm. & Rem. (1845), 398. We be fallen into the dirt, and be all-to dirtied, even up to the ears.

1549.  Chaloner, trans. Erasm. Moriæ Enc., D iij b. Beyng all to laught to scorne.

1551–76.  Grindal, Fruitf. Dial., Wks. 1843, 48. To kneel and crouch down and all-to be-god him.

1589.  Greene, Menaphon (Arb.), 69. Her cheekes all to be blubbered with her jealous teares.

1591.  G. Fletcher, Russe Commonw., 141. And so al to besprinkleth … the image gods.

1611.  Cotgr., Papilloteux, All-to-bespangled … set thicke with spangles.

1647.  I. C., Char. Lond.-Diurn., 3. I wonder my Lord … is not once more all-to-be-traytor’d.

1674.  N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 53. The wide, thick, all-to-be deckt heap of visible beings.

1682.  N. O., Boileau’s Le Lutrin, I. 314. Him too the bounteous Dean All-to-be-Blesses.

1684.  Bunyan, Pilgr., II. 48. She all-to-be-fooled me.

  D.  Obsolete uses of early inflected forms.

  (The inflexions were: Sing. acc. masc. 1–2 alne, 2–3 alle, dat. m. & n. 1 allum, 2–3 -en, 2–4 -e; dat. & gen. f. 1–3 alre, 2–4 alle; gen. m. & n. 1–3 alles. Pl. nom. & acc. 1–5 alle; dat. 1 allum, 2–4 -en, 2–5 -e; gen. 1–2 alra, 2–4 -re, 3–4 aldre, 3–6 aller, alder, alþer, alther, also passim, alir, aldir, -yr, althir; alleris, altheris, etc. These survived longest in the south, none being retained by northern dial. after 13th c. exc. gen. pl. In midl. dial. all sing. and alle pl. were still distinguished by Wyclif and Chaucer.)

  † I.  The gen. sing. alles was used adverbially: Altogether, at all, wholly, entirely. (Fr. du tout.)

a. 1100.  O. E. Chron., an. 1018. Þat gafol … wæs ealles lxxii þusend punda.

1205.  Layam., 3077. Þa hit alles up brac.

c. 1230.  Ancr. R., 88. Hwon hit alles cumeð forð.

1297.  R. Glouc., 17. Corineus was alles wroþ.

c. 1320.  Cast. Loue, 659. Whon he wolde alles bicome man.

  II.  The gen. plur. alra, alre, aller, alder, alther, ‘of all’ was used down to 1600.

  † 2.  With sb. a. governed by sb. (To 1200.)

a. 1000.  Cynewulf, Elene (Grein), 816. Allra cyninga þrym.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 33. He is alra kinge king. Ibid., 217. Heo is ælra þinga angin.

  b.  governed by superlative. (To 1300.)

a. 1000.  Scópes Wídsið, 15. Ealra ricost monna cynnes.

c. 1200.  Moral Ode, 351. Þer is alre meruþe mest.

1297.  R. Glouc., 135. Þat ys aller mon worst, þat me euer sey with ye.

  † 3.  absol. with a superlative, orig. either before or after; subseq. always prefixed, and becoming at length a mere intensifying prefix. Prefixed to any superlative, as aller-best ‘best of all,’ aller-blivest, -erst, farthest, -fairest, -feeblest, -first, foulest, -highest, -last, -least, -liefest, -longest, -most, -next, -truest, -worst, etc.; of which alderliefest ‘dearest of all, very dear,’ was a common epithet in 16th c.

a. 1000.  Metr. Ps. cviii. 28. Him si abroʓden hiora sylfra sceamu swyðust ealra.

a. 1000.  Cædmon, Gen. (Grein), 337. Ofermetto ealra swiðost.

1154.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1135. Alre fyrst Balduin de Reduers.

1297.  R. Glouc., 44. Grete townes in Engelond … And London aller most.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 7391. Quar es þin alþer-yongest son?

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, V. 576. Myn alderlevest lady deere, So wommanly. Ibid., III. 240. My altherlevest lord, and brothir dere.

1382.  Wyclif, 1 Sam. ix. 10. Altherbest is thi word; com, go we.

a. 1400.  Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. (1867), 31. He es alþir-myghtyeste, althirwyseste, and alswa althire-beste.

1481.  Caxton, Myrrour, I. xiii. 42. God created nature altherfirst.

1502.  Arnold, Chron. (1811), 43. Our alther lieuest uncles.

1587.  Gascoigne, Wks., 163. To mine Alderlieuest Lord I must indite a wofull case.

1590.  T. Watson, Egl., Walsingham, 386. Thou, Spencer, art the alderliefest swaine.

1593.  Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., I. i. 28. Mine Alder liefest Soueraigne.

  † b.  In later times when the nature of alther was forgotten, it was erroneously written all there.

a. 1450.  Syr Gowghter, 172. Huntyng he loved al there best.

c. 1500.  Partenay, 2490. Ywon all ther first ther he edified.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, V. ix. 21. All thare last The antiant kyng Acestes.

1537.  Lyndesay, Q. Magd., 150. The greit Maister of houshold all thare last.

  † c.  Ignorance of the true meaning, with consciousness of its intensifying force, produced many remarkable constructions.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 3997. On ilc alter fier alðerneðer.

c. 1320.  Seuyn Sag. (W.), 2298. On alder twenti devel wai.

c. 1330.  Florice & Bl., 27. In the althrest fairest sete.

c. 1430.  Lydg., Chron. Troy, I. v. For there was one thyng closed in her hert An alderother in her chere declared.

1630.  Tinck. Turvey, 56. An alder leefer swaine, I weene, In the barge there was not seene.

  † 4.  In concord with a pron. pl. possessive: our, your, their aller; where modern language has of us all, belonging to them all, etc. (Cf. L. omnium nostrum parens.) Later northern writers, to whom the -er had no longer a genitive force, added a second possessive ending, making alleris, alders, althers. (Cf. our-s, their-s, both-er(s.)

c. 1230.  Ancr. R., 52. Eue vre alre moder. Ibid., 94. Hore alre crune.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 469. For þare aller right.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron., 162. Þat I be ȝour aller broþer.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XVI. 205. Adam was oure aller fader.

c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 2884. By-for hure alre siȝt.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 823. Vp roos oure hoost and was oure aller cok [v.r. alþer, alder].

1401.  Pol. Poems, II. 65. Crist, our aller duke.

a. 1423.  James I., King’s Q., III. xl. I will that Gud-hope … be, Ȝoure alleris frende.

c. 1430.  Syr Gener., 5244. The gates thei shet bi here althers consent.

c. 1460.  Fortescue, Abs. & Lim. Mon., 144. The Harmes … ben now by hym turnyd into our aller Good.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, XII. i. 40. I sali reuenge and end our alleris offence.

  E.  All- in comb.

  Combinations with all- as first element have existed from the earliest times, and have become, since c. 1600, unlimited in number. In some groups the combination is merely syntactic, though even there individual instances of long standing have become true compounds; cf. the gradation in all alive, all-important, all-powerful, almighty. The stress is not on all except in a few real compounds as a·lways, a·lso. On these combinations as well as on simple phrases, derivatives are freely formed in which the loose union or non-union of the original elements is cemented by the formative process, so that all is no longer merely in syntactic combination with the rest of the word; thus all-pervadingness, all-eyed, cannot be analysed as all + pervadingness, all + eyed, but only as (all-pervading) + -ness, (all eyes) + -ed. The following general classification contains I. Simple combinations; II. Derivatives formed on these, and on phrases. Words in SMALL CAPITALS are treated in their alphabetical place in the sequel.

  I.  Simple combinations.

  1.  adject. with sb., as ALL-FOUR(S, -HAIL, -HALLOWS, -MIGHT, -NIGHT, -SAINTS, -SOULS, -SPICE (and their derivatives); all-power, omnipotence; all-wisdom.

c. 1680.  J. Pordage, Myst. Divin., 55. The Power of all Powers, yea All-power it self.

1827.  Edin. Rev., XLVI. 320. Here it has assumed … a sort of all-wisdom.

  2.  adject. with adv. (formerly an oblique case of sb. or pron.), as ALGATE, ALWAYS, ALLWHERE, -WHITHER.

  3.  substant. (genit.) with sb. = ‘of all, universal,’ as ALL-FATHER; all-monarch, -parent, -soul; esp. as obj. gen. with verbal agents, when there is an accompanying ppl. form in -ing (see 7), as all-commander (cf. all-commanding), -creator, -destroyer, -encompasser, -giver, -maker, -seer, -sustainer, etc.

1594.  Shaks., Rich. III., V. i. 20. That high All-seer, which I dallied with.

1598.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, I. iii. (1641), 21/2. The All-Monarch’s bounteous Majesty. Ibid., 24/2. Th’ eternall All-Creator.

1613.  Zouche, Dove, in Farr’s S. P., 320. To this All-maker’s prayses sing.

1621.  Burton, Anat. Mel., III. ii. I. i. That mischievous all-commander of the Earth.

1795.  T. Taylor, Met. Apul. (1822), 184. The all-powerful and all-parent Syrian goddess.

1850.  Mrs. Browning, Prom. Bnd., I. 163. Zeus, the all-giver.

1870.  Bryant, Homer, II. XIII. 13. Saturn’s son, The all-disposer.

1870.  H. Macmillan, Bible Teach., i. 26. The invisible shrine of the All-encompasser,—the All-sustainer.

1879.  Whitney, Sanskr. Gram., Introd. 20. The emancipation of the soul, and its unification with the All-soul.

  4.  substant. (obj.) with vb. inf., as ALL-HEAL; all-hold, that which holds all.

1496.  Dives & Paup. (W. de Worde), I. xxxiv. 73/1. Settynge of mete or of drynke by nyght on the benche, for to fede All holde, or gobelyn.

  5.  advb. with sb., as ALL-BONE; all-heart (i.e., wholly heart), a name of the elm tree; all-sayer. And in attrib. phrases such as all-rail, wholly by rail, all-slavery, all-talk, wholly, altogether (given to) talk, all-wool, wholly of wool.

1567.  Maplet, Greene Forest, 41 b. The Elme … is called of some All heart.

1624.  Bargrave, Serm., 21. Our Saviour … found some all-sayers and no-doers, so others that would outdoe all faith.

1833.  Gen. P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), II. 479. The ‘all slavery’ party in England,—who wherever two or three were gathered together to oppress, were there in the midst of them.

1863.  W. Phillips, Speeches, iii. 50. The all-talk party.

1879.  Lumberman’s Gaz., 3 Dec. The first all-rail shipment of lumber.

1882.  Daily News, 4 March. The demand is most apparent in all-wool dress goods.

  6.  advb. with adj., = ‘wholly, altogether, infinitely.’ About twenty of these combinations are found in OE. including eall-beorht, -ʓearo, -ʓeleáflic, gréne, -gylden, -háliʓ, -hwít, -íren, -ísiʓ, -mihtiʓ, -nacod, -niwe, -riht, -seolcen, -teaw, -weald, -wérlíc. Of these ALL-HOLY, and AL-MIGHTY, survived into ME. and were reinforced from time to time by -WITTY, -worthy, -wise, -GOOD, -merciful, -just. Since 1600, the number of these has been enormously extended, all- having become a possible prefix, in poetry at least, to almost any adj. of quality. Thus, all-able, -beauteous, -bitter, -black, -bountiful, -brilliant, -complete, -constant, -content, -divine, -dreadful, -earnest, eloquent, -essential, -evil, -fair, -glorious, -golden, -gracious, -holy, -important, -just, -lavish, -lovely, -merciful, -peaceful, -perfect, -potential, -praiseworthy, -prolific, puissant, -pure, -rapacious, -righteous, -sacred, -substantial, -true, -various, -vast, -wondrous.

a. 1000.  ? Cædmon, Sat., 522 (Gr.). Englas eall-beorhte. Cynewulf, Andreas, 799. Eorþan eall-gréne. Ælfric, Judg. xvi. 16. Ȝebunden mid eallniwum rápum.

c. 1340.  [See ALL-WITTY].

c. 1375.  Wyclif, Antecrist, 137. Chef bischop & kynges son alworþiest.

1585.  Abp. Sandys, Serm. (1841), 292. Three Persons and one almighty and all-merciful God.

1586.  T. B., trans. La Primaudaye’s Fr. Acad., II. 574. He must bee all good, aljust, and almightie.

1600.  Tourneur, Transf. Metamorph., xii. 78 (1878), 194. Where shall I find a safe all-peacefull seat.

1611.  Shaks., Cymb., III. v. 95. Pis. Oh my all-worthy lord. Clo. All-worthy villaine, Discouer where thy Mistris is at once.

1626.  G. Sandys, Ovid’s Met., VIII. 166. One who did despise All-able Gods.

1613–30.  Drumm. of Hawth., Poems, Wks. 1711, 46/2. Earth’s all-thorny soyl. Ibid., 47. of the first world an all-substantial man.

c. 1656.  Bp. Hall, Invis. World, II. ii. The bliss-making presence of the All-glorious God.

1670.  Eachard, Contempt Clergy, 41. The all-wise patron, or all-understanding justice of the peace.

1725.  Pope, Odyss., XXIII. 303. Such future scenes the all-righteous powers display.

1765.  Tucker, Lt. Nat., I. 503. We judge of the All perfect by ourselves.

1781.  Gibbon, Decl. & F., II. 139. His all-powerful virtue, and celestial fortune.

1794.  T. Taylor, Pausanias, I. 304. He employed all-various purifications.

1839.  Hallam, Hist. Lit., IV. IV. iii. 54. 95. The soul is united to an all-perfect Being.

1839.  W. Irving, Wolfert’s Roost (1855), 63. They [the modern languages] are all-important.

1842.  H. E. Manning, Serm. (1848), I. xx. 303. Christ … was all-pure.

1849.  Hare, Par. Serm. (1849), II. 112. The one living, eternal, all-worthy Sacrifice.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., IV. 379. Bowed down by fear of the allpowerful Campbells.

1861.  W. Gresley, Sophr. & Neol., 140. It is of that all-essential and vital character.

1862.  Lytton, Strange Story, II. 258. Is not the Creator omniscient? if all-wise, all-foreseeing? If all-foreseeing, all pre-ordaining?

  ¶  These are connected with the next by forms in -ent, and -ive, from L. pr. pples, and vbl. adjs., as all-efficient, -perficient, -potent, prepotent, -prevalent, -sufficient; all-comprehensive, -miscreative, -perceptive, -persuasive, -pervasive.

1594.  Hooker, Eccl. Pol., II. (1617), 79. The Testimonies of God are al-sufficient into that end for which they were giuen.

1623.  Drumm. of Hawth., Cypress Gr., Wks. 1711, 121. The wise and all-provident Creator.

1660.  R. Coke, Power & Subj., 75. The good will and pleasure of the All-prepotent God.

1675.  Baxter, Cath. Theol., II. I. 233. He himself who is God Allsufficient.

1684.  T. Burnet, Th. Earth, I. 320. That great all-comprehensive thought.

1711.  Shaftesbury, Charact. (1737), II. 365. That all-prevalent wisdom which you have establish’d.

1790.  Burke, Fr. Rev., 287. Your all-sufficient legislators have forgot one thing that seems essential.

1821.  Shelley, Prom. Unb., I. The all-miscreative brain of Jove.

1879.  Froude, Cæsar, ii. 17. Moral habits are all-sufficient while they last.

  7.  advb. with pr. pple. as in prec., but often as the object of the verbal action. With exc. of ALL-WIELDING q.v. found already in OE., no examples of this combination occur much before 1600; in modern times their number is unlimited, though many are used only in poetry. Examples: all-acting, -affecting, -afflicting, -appointing, -arranging, -attempting, -availing, -bearing, -beholding, -bestowing, -binding, -blessing, -canning, -cheering, -commanding, -composing, -comprehending, -conceiving, -concerning, -confounding, -conquering, -consuming, -convincing, -covering, -creating, -daring, -deciding, -defying, -despising, -destroying, -devouring, -dimming, -disposing, -embracing, -ending, -enduring, -energizing, -enlightening, -filling, -forgetting, -governing, -grasping, -healing, -hearing, -heeding, -including, -involving, -judging, -justifying, -knowing, -loving, -maintaining, -ordering, -pervading, -pitying, -pondering, -prevailing, -preventing, -protecting, -providing, -quickening, -reaching, -relieving, -ruling, -satiating, -satisfying, -saving, -seeing, -shaking, -soothing, -space-filling, -subduing, -sufficing, -surpassing, -surrounding, -sustaining, -swallowing, -swaying, -telling, -tolerating, -transcending, -triumphing, -turning, -understanding, -upholding, -working.

a. 1000.  Cod. Exon. (Th.), 474. Alwaldend God.

1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., II. i. 21. All-telling fame Doth noyse abroad. Ibid. (1592), Rom. & Jul., I. i. 141. The all-cheering sunne. Ibid. (1594), Rich. III., III. i. 78. To all posteritie, Euen to the generall all ending day. Ibid. (1605), Lear, III. ii. 6. All-shaking Thunder.

1599.  Marston, Sc. Villanie, III. ii. 232. Close his eyes with thy all-dimming hand. Ibid., II. v. 195. O brawny strength is an all-canning charme.

1603.  Patient Grissil, 16. When all-commanding love your hearts subdue.

1607.  Hieron, Wks., I. 427. It hath pleased the all-disposing God to remooue you.

1622.  Drayton, Poly-olb., ix. note 152. The Druids inuocation was to one All-healing or All-sauing power. Ibid., vii. note 109. That All-knowing Isaac Casaubon. Ibid., v. note 76. What all-appointing Heauen will.

1623.  Drumm. of Hawth., Cypress Gr., Wks. 1711, 124. That all-sufficient and all-sufficing happiness. Ibid. (c. 1630), Wks., 1711, 31/1. All-acting vertues of those flaming tow’rs. Ibid., 32/2. See, all-beholding King. Ibid., 29/2. Uncreate Beauty, all-creating Love. Ibid., 43/1. The greatest gift, that … The all-governing pow’rs to man can give. Ibid., 30/1. Thy all-upholding might her malice reins.

1655.  H. Vaughan, Silex Scint., I. (1858), 15. Some drops of thy all-quickning blood.

1667.  Milton, P. L., X. 591. Second of Satan sprung, all conquering Death.

1674.  N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 99. Motion, which is an all-reaching affection or belonger to each bit of the world.

1710.  Palmer, Proverbs, 376. Our conduct is in view of an all-seeing eye.

1741.  Richardson, Pamela (1824), I. xx. 268. The all-surpassing pleasure that fills the worthy breast.

1742.  Young, Nt. Th., VIII. 1150. All-bearing, all-attempting, till he falls.

1765.  Tucker, Lt. Nat., I. 596. Offspring of all-protecting Jove. Ibid., 666. The all-space-filling mundane soul.

1768.  Boswell, Corsica, iii. (ed. 2), 164. Looking up to an all-ruling Providence.

1827.  Keble, Chr. Year, Tues. bef. Easter. Thine all-pervading look. Ibid., Purific. An all-defying, dauntless look.

1848.  L. Hunt, Jar of Honey, vii. 92. The all-including genius of Shakspeare.

1857.  Emerson, Poems, 25. The all-loving Nature Will smile in a factory.

1863.  (26 March) Bright, Sp. (1878), 125. Christian morality ever widening and all-blessing in its influence.

1870.  Bryant, Homer, I. III. 94. O all-beholding and all-hearing Sun!

1882.  Shorthouse, J. Inglesant, II. 131. I see traces of this all-pervading truth.

  8.  advb. with pa. pple. = ‘wholly, completely’; sometimes assuming an instrumental relation = ‘by all.’ Rare bef. Shakespeare. Examples: all-accomplished, -admired, -appalled, -armed, -dreaded, -enlightened, -enraged, -hono(u)red, -licensed, -praised, -shunned, -watched. (These pass by ambiguous combinations, as all-watched, ‘wholly watched through,’ or ‘being all watch,’ into group 12.)

1596.  Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., III. ii. 140. This gallant Hotspur, this all-praysed Knight. Ibid. (1599), Hen. V., IV. Cho. 38. The wearie, and all-watched night. Ibid. (1605), Lear, I. iv. 220. This, your all-lycenc’d Foole. Ibid. (1606), Ant. & Cl., II. vi. 16. All honor’d, honest Romaine Brutus. Ibid. (1607), Timon, IV. ii. 14. His disease of all shunn’d pouerty. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., IV. ii. 271. Th’ all-dreaded Thunderstone.

c. 1612.  Sylvester, Lachr. Lachrim., Poems (1633), 1149. O, All-admired, Benign and Bountious! O All-desired (right) Panaretos!

a. 1631.  Drayton, Triumph of David, ibid., 114. How this vnarmed youth himselfe would beare Against th’ all-armed giant (which they feare).

c. 1630.  Drumm. of Hawth., Wks., 1711, 10/1. False delights … my all-appalled mind so do affray.

1725.  Pope, Odyss., XIII. 483. Oh all-enlightened Mind! Inform him.

  9.  advb. with vb. = ‘wholly, completely.’ rare.

1839.  Bailey, Festus, ix. (1848), 104. Whether the sun all-light thee or the moon.

  II.  Synthetic derivatives of comb. and phrases.

  10.  sb. a. from 6, as all-fullness, -powerfulness, -wiseness; b. from 6 ¶, as all-defiance, -sufficience, -potency, -prevalency, -sufficiency; c. from 7, as all-knowingness, -meaningness, -pervadingness, -prevailingness.

  a.  1614.  Raleigh, Hist. World, II. 259. The loue and kindnesse of his all-powerfulnesse.

1656.  Jeanes, Fulnesse of Christ, 382. That all-fulnesse which dwelleth in Christ.

1670.  Eachard, Contempt Clergy, 56. The all-powerfulness of aquafortis.

1824.  Southey, Sir T. More (1831), I. 52. It would be disparaging his own all-wiseness.

1860.  Ruskin, Mod. Paint., V. VIII. iv. § 19. He must be able to bear the all-wrongness.

  b.  1641.  Prel. Episcop., A b. All-sufficiency … to furnish us … with spiritual knowledge.

1642.  H. More, Song of Soul, II. I. II. liv. What thing not done by his all-potencie?

a. 1797.  Walpole, George II. (1847), III. i. 16. The Duke of Bedford … reflected on Pitt’s all-sufficience.

1826.  E. Irving, Babylon, II. VII. 235. The doctrine of Christ, and the all-prevalency of his kingdom.

1845.  Carlyle, Cromwell (1871), V. 136. With pious all-defiance front the World.

1865.  Pusey, Truth & Off. Eng. Ch., 108. The all-sufficiency of the Intercession of our Divine Redeemer.

1870.  Smith, Syn. & Antonyms, Ubiquity, Syn. Omnipresence. All-pervasiveness.

  c.  1654.  E. Johnson, Wonder-wrkg. Provid., 56. The honour of his All-seeingness.

1674.  N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 23. The naked essence of God is as much his all-knowingness, his all-fillingness, or his onefoldness, as his everlastingness.

c. 1830.  Coleridge, in Blackw. Mag. (1882), 119. The abominable no-meaningness … The all-meaningness … of the lectures.

1862.  F. Hall, Hindu Philos. Syst., 64. In the matter of omnipresence,—or, rather, all-pervadingness.

  11.  adv. from the same, as all-powerfully; all-sufficiently; all-convincingly.

1649.  Roberts, Clavis Bibl., 308. How … all-sufficiently able God is, in performing of his Promises.

Mod.  An all-convincingly genuine inscription.

  12.  adj. in -ed, formed on phrases (chiefly since 1600), as all-aged of all ages, all-colo(u)red, all-shaped, all-sized, all-eyed, being ‘all eyes,’ all-sided ready or skilful on all sides, versatile. These have the stress on all: a·ll-si:ded.

1621.  G. Sandys, Ovid’s Met., I. (1626), 7. All-colour’d Iris, Iuno’s messenger.

1630.  J. Taylor (Water P.), Wks., II. 61/2. Al-shaped Proteus.

1658.  J. R., trans. Mouffet’s Theat. Ins., 899. Let that all-eyed Argus tell.

1765.  Tucker, Lt. Nat., II. 478. Persons of all sized apprehensions.

1862.  M. Hopkins, Hawaii, 275. One of those rapid, intelligent, all-sided men.

1882.  Daily News, 8 Nov., 6/5. Coursing. All-Aged Stakes, of 6 guineas each.