already

(ôl-rĕd'ē)
adv.

1. By this or a specified time: The children were already asleep when we got home.
2. So soon: Are you quitting already?
3. Informal. Used as an intensive: Be quiet already. Enough already.

[Middle English alredi : al, all; see all + redi, ready; see ready.]

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1. As an adverb (I have already paid), already is spelt as one word, and is not to be confused with the two separate words all ready (We are all ready to start now).

2. Already is sometimes used in American English and other varieties, and informally in British English too, to mean 'yet, still' or even (in its weakened use) 'now', as in the following examples:

If I were a man and your ma was fifty-five already I should still be mad for her—R.Y. Stormberg, SAfr 1920

Give me the watermelon already—D. Greenburg, American English 1964

I called you up but you weren't there already—J. Platt, SAfr 1984.

This use is non-standard, and should be avoided except in informal contexts.

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adverb

At a time in the past: before, earlier, erstwhile, formerly, once, previously. Archaic aforetime, beforetime. See precede/follow.

IN BRIEF: Prior to a specified or implied time.

There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full. — Henry Kissinger

Tutor's tip: Something that is "all ready," is prepared and completely set, which is different from "already," which means "previously".

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For a list of words related to already, see:

• Relative Time - already: (adv) before a specific time

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See words rhyming with "already."

Common misspelling(s) of already

• alreayd

Dansk (Danish)
adv. - allerede

Nederlands (Dutch)
al

Français (French)
adv. - déjà

Deutsch (German)
adv. - bereits, schon

Ελληνική (Greek)
adv. - ήδη, κιόλας, λοιπόν

Italiano (Italian)
già

Português (Portuguese)
adv. - já

Русский (Russian)
уже

Español (Spanish)
adv. - ya

Svenska (Swedish)
adv. - redan

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
早已, 已经

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adv. - 早已, 已經

한국어 (Korean)
adv. - 이미

日本語 (Japanese)
adv. - 既に, 前に, 今すぐ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(ظرف) الآن, في ذلك الحين, سابقا, قبل الآن‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adv. - ‮כבר‬

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