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always

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?
Proto-Indo-European *h₂elnós
Proto-Germanic *allaz
Proto-West Germanic *all
Old English eall
Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-der.
Proto-Germanic *wegaz
Proto-West Germanic *weg
Old English weġ
Old English ealneġ
Middle English alwey
Proto-Germanic *-as
Proto-West Germanic *-as
Old English -es
Middle English -es
Middle English alweyes
English always

    From Middle English alweyes, alwayes, alweys, a variant of Middle English alwey, alway (“always”), from Old English ealneġ, ealne weġ (“always, perpetually”, literally “all the way, all the while, continuously”), from ealne + weġ (accusative case), equivalent to alway +‎ -s. Cognate with Scots always (“always”), Low German allerwegens (“very often”, literally “all ways'”). More at all, way.

    Pronunciation

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    Adverb

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    always (not comparable)

    1. At all times; throughout all time; since the beginning.
      Synonyms: perpetually, continually, all the time, every time; see also Thesaurus:forever
      Antonyms: at no time, never; see also Thesaurus:never
      God is always the same.
      Green has always been my favorite color. I’ve loved it for as long as I can remember.
      Airplanes did not always exist as a form of transportation.
      • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
        Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
    2. Constantly during a certain period, or regularly at stated intervals (opposed to sometimes or occasionally).
      Synonyms: invariably, uniformly; see also Thesaurus:uniformly
      Antonyms: manywise, sundrily, variously; see also Thesaurus:diversely
      In this street, the shops always close during lunchtime.
      • 1840, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Money:
        His liveries are black,—his carriage is black,—he always rides a black galloway,—and, faith, if he ever marry again, I think he will show his respect to the sainted Maria by marrying a black woman.
      • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
        They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
      • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./1/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
        And so it had always pleased M. Stutz to expect great things from the dark young man whom he had first seen in his early twenties ; and his expectations has waxed rather than waned on hearing the faint bruit of the love of Ivor and Virginia—for Virginia, M. Stutz thought, would bring fineness to a point in a man like Ivor Marlay, […].
      • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
        The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.
      • 1981 February 14, Andrea Loewenstein, “Voices in the Night”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 29, page 8:
        She used to always talk about how she wished she had time to write all day, but now she had the time, she never even went near the typewriter.
    3. (informal) if necessary, or if there is no better option; in any event.
      Synonyms: anyhow, anyway, at any rate, regardless; see also Thesaurus:regardless
      I thought I could always go back to work.

    Usage notes

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    • Used for both duration and frequency.
    • "Always" used with a continuous tense can imply anger or annoyance about another person's persistent habits, for example "My mum is always telling me to tidy me room!".

    Antonyms

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    Derived terms

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    Phrases with "always"

    Translations

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    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    See also

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    Noun

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    always

    1. (informal) This term needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
      • 1977, Barry Hannah, “Coming Close to Donna”, in Esquire, New York, N.Y., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 76, column 2:
        I am her always and she is my always and that’s the whole trouble. For two years I tried to make her pregnant.
      • 2001 May 6, Lord Usher, “I hate Willow. ("Tough Love" spoilers)”, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer‎[1] (Usenet), archived from the original on 7 December 2025:
        What we saw was cute-'n'-cuddly Willow, takin' care of her girl and spouting nauseating platitudes like "You're my always."
      • 2016, Scarlett Dawn, chapter 8, in The King Trilogy: Forever Evermore Books 1-3, Sydney, N.S.W.: Escape Publishing/Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN:
        “Same with me. I love Gideon. He’s my always, but as far as true friendships go,” she cleared her throat, “I’ve never met three people I click with better.”
      • 2017, Tara Sosa, The Beauty Series‎[2], published 2019, ASIN B0835R25F1:
        He is my everything too. He’s my always too.
      • 2017 August 29, Mariah Stewart, “Epilogue”, in The Chesapeake Bride (Chesapeake Diaries; 11), New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 364:
        Every once in a while Cass took off the wide gold band he’d slipped on her finger and read the inscription: My everything and my always. My Chesapeake bride.
      • 2020, John Mangum, “Les nuits d’été (Hector Berlioz)”, in LA Phil‎[3], Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Philharmonic, archived from the original on 6 August 2020:
        When performed as a cycle, the songs convey this loss all the more strongly, not just as individual compositions touched by melancholy, but as a coherent conception, one where the longed-for "always" of the first song, "Villanelle," becomes unattainable in the last one, "L'île inconnue." Berlioz' rapturous, idealistic love for Harriet had faded - the breeze had blown his ship on a course far from one leading to the "always" of his youthful dreams.

    References

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    1. ^ Hall, Joseph Sargent (2 March 1942), “3. The Consonants”, in The Phonetics of Great Smoky Mountain Speech (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 4), New York: King's Crown Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § 2, page 88.

    Anagrams

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    Middle English

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    Adverb

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    always

    1. alternative form of alwey
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