already

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al·read·y / ôlˈredē/ • adv. 1. before or by now or the time in question: Anna has suffered already. ∎  as surprisingly soon or early as this: at 31, he already suffers from arthritis.2. inf. used as an intensive after a word or phrase to express impatience: enough already with these crazy kids!

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

already

views updated May 23 2018

already XIV. orig. two words, ALL adv. and READY, used predic. ‘fully prepared’, passing into adv.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

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