always
/ˈɔːl.weɪz/ adverb
Forms alwayes alwayz alwayez allus
- adverb At all times; throughout all time; since the beginning. “God is always the same.”
- adverb Constantly during a certain period, or regularly at stated intervals (opposed to sometimes or occasionally). “In this street, the shops always close during lunchtime.”
- adverb (informal) if necessary, or if there is no better option; in any event. “I thought I could always go back to work.”
Synonyms
perpetually continually all the time every time 5ever ad infinitum aye endlessly eternally ever ever after evermore fivever for good forever forevermore for evermore for ever and ever for ever more incessantly e'er constantly invariably
Antonyms
at no time never at latter Lammas in the reign of Queen Dick ne'er never ever not while pussy's a cat on the second Tuesday of the week sine die when Hell freezes over when pigs fly when two Sundays come together
Etymology
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.
Webster’s 1913
- adverb At all times; ever; perpetually; throughout all time; continually; as, God is always the same.
- adverb Constancy during a certain period, or regularly at stated intervals; invariably; uniformly; --opposed to sometimes or occasionally.
Etymology [All + way. The s is an adverbial (orig. a genitive) ending.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “always”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details