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ALL,
every one of. (E.) M.E. al, in the singular, and alle
(disyllabic) in the plural; the mod. E. is the latter, with the loss of final e.
Chaucer has al a, i.e. the whole of, in the phrase 'al a companye,'
C. T. Group G, 996; also at al, i.e. wholly, C. T. Group C,
633. The plural alle is very common.—A.S. eal,
sing., ealle, plural; but the mod. E. follows the Northumb. form alle,
a gloss to omnes in Mark, xiv. 30. + Icel. allr, sing., allir,
pl. + Swed. all, pl. alle. + Dan. al, pl. alle. +
Du. al, alle. + O.H.G. al, aller. + Goth. alls, allai. +
Irish and Gael. uile, all, every, whole. + W. oll, all, whole,
every one. ¶
When all is used as a prefix, it was formerly spelt with only one l,
a habit still preserved in a few words. The A.S. form of the prefix
is eal-, Northumbrian al-, Icel. al-, Gothic ala-.
Hence al-mighty, al-most, al-one, al-so, al-though, al-together, al-ways;
and M.E. al-gates, i.e. always. This prefix is now
written all in later formations, as all-powerful,
&c. In all-hallows, i.e. all saints, the double l
is correct, as denoting the plural. ➩
In the phrase all to-brake, Judges, ix. 53, there is an
ambiguity. The proper spelling, in earlier English, would be al
tobrak, where al is an adverb, signifying 'utterly,' and tobrak
the 3 p. s. pt. t. of the verb tobreken, to break in pieces; so that al
tobrak means 'utterly brake in pieces.' The verb tobreken
is common; cf. 'Al is tobroken thilke regioun;' Chaucer, C. T.
2759. β. There was a large number of similar verbs, such as
tobresten, to burst in twain, tocleouen, to cleave in twain, todelen, to divide
in twain, &c.; see Stratmann's O.E. Dict. pp. 500, 501, 502. γ.
Again, al was used before other prefixes besides to; as 'he ws al
awondred;'
Will. of Palerne, l. 872; and again 'al biweped for wo;' id. 661.
δ.
But about A.D. 1500, this idiom became misunderstood, so that the to was often
joined to al (misspelt all), producing a form all-to, which was used as an
intensive prefix to verbs, yet written apart from them, as in 'we be fallen into
the dirt, and be all-to dirtied;' Latimer, Rem. p. 397. See the
article on all to in Eastwood and Wright's Bible Wordbook. B. The
gen. pl. of A.S. eal was ealra, in later English written aller, and sometimes
alder, with an inserted excrescent d. Hence Shakespeare's
alderliefest is for allerliefest, i.e. dearest of all; 2 Hen. VI, i. I.
28. See Almighty, Almost,
Alone, Also,
Although, Always,
As, Withal;
also Hallowmass.
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