# all

> English word · Determiner · IPA /ɔːl/ · frequency rank #32

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

## Etymology
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 [Term?] (“who all, where all”) etc. also has equivalents in German (see alles).

## Easily confused with
- **as** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-as)
- **at** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-at)
- **an** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-an)
- **AM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-am)
- **AP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-ap)
- **aw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-aw)
- **AR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-ar)
- **AU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-au)
- **AZ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-az)
- **av** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-av)
- **ay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-ay)
- **ao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-ao)
- **ax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-ax)
- **and** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-and)
- **are** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-are)
- **any** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-any)
- **ask** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-ask)
- **art** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-art)
- **ass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-ass)
- **App** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/all-vs-app)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/all