Adjacent Words

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ALREAD'Y, adv. alred'dy. [all and ready. See Ready.]
Literally, a state of complete preparation; but, by an easy deflection, the sense is, at this time, or at a specified time.
Elias is come already. Matthew 17.
Joseph was in Egypt already. Exodus 1.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adv
1: prior to a specified or implied time; "she has already graduated"

Merriam Webster's

adverb Etymology: Middle English al redy, from al redy, adjective, wholly ready, from al all + redy ready Date: 14th century 1. prior to a specified or implied past, present, or future time ; by this time ; previously <he had already left when I called> 2. — used as an intensive <all right already> <enough already>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adv. 1 before the time in question (I knew that already). 2 as early or as soon as this (already at the age of six). Etymology: ALL adv. + READY

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Already Al*read"y, adv. [All (OE. al) + ready.] Prior to some specified time, either past, present, or future; by this time; previously. ``Joseph was in Egypt already.'' --Exod. i. 5. I say unto you, that Elias is come already. --Matt. xvii. 12. Note: It has reference to past time, but may be used for a future past; as, when you shall arrive, the business will be already completed, or will have been already completed.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. You use already to show that something has happened, or that something had happened before the moment you are referring to. Speakers of British English use already with a verb in a perfect tense, putting it after 'have', 'has', or 'had', or at the end of a clause. Some speakers of American English use already with the simple past tense of the verb instead of a perfect tense. They had already voted for him at the first ballot... I already told you not to come over... They've spent nearly a billion dollars on it already. ADV: ADV before v, cl ADV 2. You use already to show that a situation exists at this present moment or that it exists at an earlier time than expected. You use already after the verb 'be' or an auxiliary verb, or before a verb if there is no auxiliary. When you want add emphasis, you can put already at the beginning of a sentence. The authorities believe those security measures are already paying off... He was already rich... Get 10% off our already low prices!... Already, he has a luxurious villa in Formello. ADV: ADV before v, ADV with group

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

ad. 1. Even now. 2. Before that time.

Moby Thesaurus

as yet, before, before all, by this time, earlier, early, ere, ere then, erenow, erstwhile, even, formerly, heretofore, hereunto, hitherto, once, or ever, previously, priorly, so far, still, then as previously, theretofore, thus far, till now, to date, to this day, until now, until this time, up to now, yet