English
always
Always comes from Middle English alweyes, a variant of alwey, from Old English ealneġ, ealne weġ ‘always’ (literally ‘all the way’).
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ealneġ1‘always, perpetually’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alwey1‘always’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alweyes1variant of alwey
- Englishearliest quotation 1840always1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English always
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1840, Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “His liveries are black,—his carriage is black,—he always rides…”.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ealneġWiktionary, English always‘always, perpetually’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alweyWiktionary, English always‘always’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alweyesWiktionary, English alwaysvariant of alwey
- Englishearliest quotation 1840alwaysWiktionary, English always. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1840, Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “His liveries are black,—his carriage is black,—he always rides…”
Formed from alway + -s
Old English ealne ‘strong accusative masculine singular of eall’
Old English ealneġ ‘always, perpetually’
Middle English alwey ‘Totally, entirely’
English alway
The story
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.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to bring’
via, vehicle, wave, reveal, vector, weigh, wee, vein, vogue, veil, wagon, wedge, venous, vex, wonky, eunuch, wag, vena, wey, invective, velar, wain, waw, 40 more
through Old English weġ ‘road’
Today it means
adv At all times; throughout all time; since the beginning.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “always”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Old English ealneġ / always