*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of all

From Middle English all, from Old English eall, from Proto-West Germanic *all, from Proto-Germanic *allaz, of uncertain origin but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“all”). Cognates Cognate with Scots a, a', aa, a

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
adv

Wholly; entirely; completely; totally. · Apiece; each. · So much; used with "the" and a comparative. · Even; just.

conj

Although.

det

Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoting the class must be plural or uncountable). · Throughout the whole of (a stated period of time; generally used with units of a day or longer). · Only; alone; nothing but. · Any.

noun

Everything that one is capable of. · The totality of one's possessions. · Everything in general; all that matters.

adj

All gone; dead.

pron

Everything. · Everyone. · The only thing(s). · Used after who, what, where, how and similar words, either without changing their meaning, or indicating that one expects that they cover more than one element, e.g. that "Who all attended?" is more than one person. (Some dialects only allow this to follow some words and not others.)

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English all, from Old English eall, from Proto-West Germanic *all, from Proto-Germanic *allaz, of uncertain origin but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“all”). Cognates Cognate with Scots a, a', aa, aal, aw (“all”), Yola aal, al, all, aul (“all”), North Frisian aal, aale, ale, ali, åle (“all”), Saterland Frisian al (“already”), aal (“all”), West Frisian alle (“all”), Dutch al (“all”), German and Luxembourgish all (“all”), Vilamovian oły, ołły (“all”), Yiddish אַלע (ale, “all”), Danish al (“all”), Faroese and Icelandic allur (“all”), Norwegian Bokmål and Swedish all (“all”), Norwegian Nynorsk aillj, all (“all”), Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌻𐍃 (alls, “all”); also Breton and Welsh holl (“all”), Cornish oll (“all”), Irish alig, eile, uile, uileag, uilig (“all”), Manx ooilley (“all”), Scottish Gaelic uile, uileag (“all”), Lithuanian aliái (“every”), Armenian ողջ (oġǰ, “entire, whole”). The dialectal sense “all gone” is a calque of German alle. The use in who all, where all etc. also has equivalents in German (see alles).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*h₂el-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentionallenm
  • Inherited-form mentioneallang
  • Inherited-form mention*allgmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*allazgem-pro
  • Derivation mention*h₂el-ine-pro · all
  • Cognate mentionasco
  • Cognate mentionaalyol
  • Cognate mentionaalfrr
  • Cognate mentionalstq · already
  • Cognate mentionallefy · all
  • Cognate mentionalnl · all
  • Cognate mentionoływym
  • Cognate mentionאַלעyi · all
  • Cognate mentionalda · all
  • Cognate mentionailljnn
  • Cognate mention𐌰𐌻𐌻𐍃got · all
  • Cognate mentionollkw · all
  • Cognate mentionaligga
  • Cognate mentionooilleygv · all
  • Cognate mentionuilegd
  • Cognate mentionaliáilt · every
  • Cognate mentionողջhy · entire, whole
  • Calque mentionallede

This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:all",
        "id": "main"
      },
      "expansion": "[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"id\" : \"all\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*h₂el-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*h₂elnós\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*allaz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*all\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"eall\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"all\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"all\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"main\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"all\" id=\"English:_main\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*h₂el-",
        "id": "all"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English all"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "eall"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English eall"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*all"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *all"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*allaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *allaz"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*h₂el-",
        "id": "all",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "a"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots a"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "yol",
        "2": "aal"
      },
      "expansion": "Yola aal"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "frr",
        "2": "aal"
      },
      "expansion": "North Frisian aal"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "al",
        "t": "already"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian al (“already”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "alle",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian alle (“all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "al",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch al (“all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de,lb",
        "2": "all",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "German and Luxembourgish all (“all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "wym",
        "2": "oły"
      },
      "expansion": "Vilamovian oły"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "yi",
        "2": "אַלע",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Yiddish אַלע (ale, “all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "al",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish al (“all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo,is",
        "2": "allur",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese and Icelandic allur (“all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb,sv",
        "2": "all",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål and Swedish all (“all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "aillj"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk aillj"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐌰𐌻𐌻𐍃",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌻𐍃 (alls, “all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "br,cy",
        "2": "holl",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Breton and Welsh holl (“all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "kw",
        "2": "oll",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Cornish oll (“all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ga",
        "2": "alig"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish alig"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gv",
        "2": "ooilley",
        "t": "all"
      },
      "expansion": "Manx ooilley (“all”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gd",
        "2": "uile"
      },
      "expansion": "Scottish Gaelic uile"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "aliái",
        "t": "every"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian aliái (“every”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "hy",
        "2": "ողջ",
        "t": "entire, whole"
      },
      "expansion": "Armenian ողջ (oġǰ, “entire, whole”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cal",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "alle",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "calque of German alle"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:all",
        "id": "main"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "all",
      "all#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "eall",
      "eall#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*all",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/all"
    ],
    [
      "*allaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/allaz"
    ],
    [
      "*h₂el-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂el-#Proto-Indo-European:_all"
    ],
    [
      "a",
      "a/languages M to Z#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "a'",
      "a'#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "aa",
      "aa#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "aal",
      "aal#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "aw",
      "aw#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "aal",
      "aal#Yola"
    ],
    [
      "al",
      "al#Yola"
    ],
    [
      "all",
      "all#Yola"
    ],
    [
      "aul",
      "aul#Yola"
    ],
    [
      "aal",
      "aal#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "aale",
      "aale#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "ale",
      "ale#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "ali",
      "ali#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "åle",
      "åle#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "al",
      "al#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "aal",
      "aal#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "alle",
      "alle#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "al",
      "al#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "German",
      "all#German"
    ],
    [
      "all",
      "all#Luxembourgish"
    ],
    [
      "oły",
      "oły#Vilamovian"
    ],
    [
      "ołły",
      "ołły#Vilamovian"
    ],
    [
      "אַלע",
      "אַלע#Yiddish"
    ],
    [
      "al",
      "al#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "Faroese",
      "allur#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "allur",
      "allur#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "all#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "all",
      "all#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "aillj",
      "aillj#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "all",
      "all#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "𐌰𐌻𐌻𐍃",
      "𐌰𐌻𐌻𐍃#Gothic"
    ],
    [
      "Breton",
      "holl#Breton"
    ],
    [
      "holl",
      "holl#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "oll",
      "oll#Cornish"
    ],
    [
      "alig",
      "alig#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "eile",
      "eile#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "uile",
      "uile#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "uileag",
      "uileag#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "uilig",
      "uilig#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "ooilley",
      "ooilley#Manx"
    ],
    [
      "uile",
      "uile#Scottish_Gaelic"
    ],
    [
      "uileag",
      "uileag#Scottish_Gaelic"
    ],
    [
      "aliái",
      "aliai#Lithuanian"
    ],
    [
      "ողջ",
      "ողջ#Armenian"
    ],
    [
      "alle",
      "alle#German"
    ],
    [
      "alles",
      "alles#German"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adv",
      "glosses": [
        "Wholly; entirely; completely; totally.",
        "Apiece; each.",
        "So much; used with \"the\" and a comparative.",
        "Even; just."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "childish",
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier",
        "not-comparable",
        "sometimes",
        "obsolete",
        "poetic"
      ],
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    },
    {
      "pos": "conj",
      "glosses": [
        "Although."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
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    },
    {
      "pos": "det",
      "glosses": [
        "Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoting the class must be plural or uncountable).",
        "Throughout the whole of (a stated period of time; generally used with units of a day or longer).",
        "Only; alone; nothing but.",
        "Any."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 17195
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Everything that one is capable of.",
        "The totality of one's possessions.",
        "Everything in general; all that matters."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "recordId": "6c0e7f03a5dc199b66e3c54bdbf3d2cf64edc66fe20f72d7de42c6e5bff3c9b8",
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 17198
    },
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "All gone; dead."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Pennsylvania",
        "dialectal"
      ],
      "recordId": "aa293ef6556ae92c478241034466e73e8770af37cfc51546a68b1dc48da55dfb",
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    },
    {
      "pos": "pron",
      "glosses": [
        "Everything.",
        "Everyone.",
        "The only thing(s).",
        "Used after who, what, where, how and similar words, either without changing their meaning, or indicating that one expects that they cover more than one element, e.g. that \"Who all attended?\" is more than one person. (Some dialects only allow this to follow some words and not others.)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "India",
        "Northern-Ireland",
        "Scotland",
        "Southern-US"
      ],
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 1,
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for all →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YWxs