Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “all-” come from?

all- (Middle English) comes from Old English eall-, from Proto-Germanic ala- — compound form of *allaz.

Ancestry of “all-”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englisheall-all, every; pan-; completely, totally; very
2Proto-Germanicala-compound form of *allaz

Words derived from “all-”

  • all-seeingness
  • all-
  • all-knowing
  • all-night
  • all-powerful
  • all-present
  • all-seeing
  • all-around
  • all-nighter
Every word from Proto-Germanic ala- →