already

Meaning

Prior to some specified time, either past, present, or future; by this time; previously.
So soon.
An intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation.
Indicates action completion or change of state.

yet

by now

by this time

by then

long before

by that time

long time ago

as early as

at once

a while ago

before now

while ago

all up

as far back as

completive aspect

perfect aspect

toforehand

as long ago as

before then

even now

in the past

too late

Frequency

Hyphenated as

al‧read‧y

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɔːlˈɹɛdi/

From Middle English alredy (“fully; already”), equivalent to al- (“all, completely”) + ready. Cognate with West Frisian alreeds (“already”), Dutch alreeds (“already”), Afrikaans alreeds (“already”), Middle Low German alreide, alreids ("already"; whence modern German Low German alreeds (“already”)), Danish allerede (“already”), Swedish allaredan (“already”), Norwegian Nynorsk allereie (“already”). More at all, ready. The use as an intensifier in American English is a semantic loan from German schon and Yiddish שוין (shoyn). In Singapore English, the use of already as a marker of action completion and change of state (i.e., perfective and inchoative aspects respectively) is analogous to Hokkien 了 (liáu), Teochew 了 (liao²) and Mandarin 了 (le). Compare Malay sudah and Cantonese 喇 (laa³).