also, adv.
(ˈɔːlsəʊ, ˈɒlsəʊ)
Forms: 1 all swa, al swá, (WS. eall swá, eal swá), 2 alswa. North. 3– 7 alswa, 5 allswa, alsswa, 5–6 alsway, 5–7 alsua, alsuay, 4–6 alsa. South. 2–3 al swo, 3–5 al so, 5–7 all so, 4– also. Contr. (north. and midl.) 4 alse, (alce), 3–7 als, (6 alls).
[comb. of all = altogether, wholly + so n. (OE. al + swá). Cf. Ger. also, Du. alzoo. Orig. an emphasized expansion of so (cf. al-though, all one, all the same, al-together), and used in all the historical senses of so n., demonstrative, antecedent, and relative. It was, first as a relative, and then as antecedent, shortened through alsĕ (ase), als, to as, which now always fulfils the relative function, and shares with the original so the antecedent function; thus, as good as this, not so good as that. As a demonstrative, its force has been weakened from wholly so, just so, through in the same way, likewise, to eke, too. For this weakened sense there was in the 15th c. a tendency, developed in the north into an established usage, to employ the weakened form alse, als, but this has been resisted in standard English, where the full also is retained in this, now the only current sense. Not common in 16th c.; Shakes., according to Schmidt, has it only 22 times. See as.]
A. Demonstrative.
† 1. Wholly so, or quite so; just, or even so; in this or that very manner, even thus. Obs.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 109 Alswo ure helende is almihtin god, and nis non oðer bute he. c 1220 Hali Meid. 13 Alswa deð meidenhad meidenes cwike flesch wiðute wemmunge halt. c 1230 Ancr. R. 24 Et alle þe oþre tiden, also biginnen & also enden. c 1305 Judas in E.E.P. (1862) 111 Also he endede his lyfe. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. iii. iii. 110 Hys Land callyd was Hunia, Hunys his Men was callyd alsua. |
† 2. In the very manner of something else; in like manner, in the same way, likewise, similarly (passing in later times into 3). Obs.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 5 Al þat folc eode þar ford to processiun..and in al swa. 1297 R. Glouc. 319 An byleuede hym þer al nyȝt, & al hys ost al so. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 474 Tak þou þanne my gode stede..& eke my scheld al-so. c 1400 Apol. for Loll. 29 And so it semeth al so to me. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. xiv. 82 And uþir Gentillis..Of his Kyn and his House alswa. 1428 in Heath Grocers' Comp. 5 Alsoe the cres-table on the seide north syde of the halle was maad and layd on. 1513 Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 8 This yeare allso..Te Deum was sungen. 1535 Coverdale Job ii. 1 When the seruauntes of God came & stode before the Lorde, Sathan came also amonge them, and stode before him. 1611 Bible Mark i. 38 Let vs goe into y⊇ next townes, that I may preach there also. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 55 ¶5 Some Forces are also posted at Taloir. |
3. As a further point, item, or circumstance tending in the same direction; further, in addition, besides, as well, too; taking the place of OE. éac, eke. a. † (α) in form als. Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 867 Ðat hird he folȝed als to ðan. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 218 And Sir Hugh Bigote als with þe erle fled he. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1377 Þe bourȝ watȝ so brod & so bigge alce. 1352 Minot Poems 4 Thare was crakked many a crowne Of wild Scottes, and alls of tame. c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 870 The sorwe of Dorigen he tolde hym als [v.r. alse]. 1470 Harding Chron. xxxi, Sixe temples he made, in Cambre & Logres als. 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. ix. 18 Als Una earnd her traveill to renew. c 1603 James I Chorus Ven. in Farr S.P. 3 With viols, gitterne, cistiers als. 1642 H. More Song of Soul iii. App. liv, Als see whose lovely friendship you decline. |
(β) in form also (northern alswa).
| [1382 Wyclif John viii. 19 If ȝe wisten me, perauenture and ȝe schulden wite my father.] 1388 ibid., Ȝe schulden knowe also my fadir [1526 Tindale, Ye shuld have knowen my father also]. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 186 Oure lantarnes take with us alsway. 1570 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 49 By his father and mothers also consent. 1582–8 Hist. James VI (1804) 87 They not only relaxt him, bot alswa my Lord Heries. 1588 A. King Canisius' Catech. 37 Grante me alsua, o heauenlie father, thy grace. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 459 Not in Words onely, but in Woes also. 1611 Bible John xii. 18 For this cause the people also met him. c 1720 Prior Engl. Ballad 53 With ekes and alsos tack thy strain. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 213 The declaration of Charles dispensed only with penal laws. The declaration of James dispensed also with all religious tests. 1857 Buckle Civilis. i. 2 Great attention has been paid to the history of legislation, also to that of religion. Ibid. I. vii. 374 The opposition was not only futile, but it was also injurious. |
b. In phr. also ran, applied to horses in a race which do not get a ‘place’; also fig. of any unsuccessful competitor or inferior person or thing.
| 1896 Ade Artie 21 They ain't even in the ‘also rans’. 1904 Enquirer (Cincinnati) 6 Feb. 13/3 (heading) George B. Cox—He Heads The List Of Also Rans. 1908 G. H. Lorimer Jack Spurlock xi. 269 Sporty old three-bottle ancestors, with a genius for throwing deuces and picking also-rans. 1921 F. Klickmann Trail of Ragged Robin 73 Bella's name [in a list of scholarship winners] was not even among those who ‘also ran’. 1924 B. Pain in Nash's Mag. June 7 He is so hard that he puts the nether millstone among the also-ran. 1926 Daily Gaz. (Karachi) 11 Oct. 5 Karachi Autumn Meeting. Also ran: Teddy... Also ran: Sir Visto. 1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 2 May 25/2 As a football tipster, he is in the also-ran class. 1946 R. Knox Epistles & Gospels 73 It is not enough that he should have put his name down as a candidate in the race for salvation; he may yet be found, if he is not careful, among the also-rans, the ἀδόκιµοι, the people who are ‘counted out’. 1949 Wodehouse Mating Season xxiv. 209 Dobbs..was more laboured in his movements and to an eye like mine, trained in the watching of point-to-point races, had all the look of an also-ran. |
B. Antecedent or correlative, with rel. so, also, alse, als, as. Obs., represented by as, so, q.v.
† 1. In the very way (in which something is done); so, as. Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3436 Als he redde, al-so gan it ben. 1256 Procl. Henry III, Al swo al se hit is biforen iseid. |
† 2. In the same degree (in which some other attribute is); so, as. Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1238 Al-so fer so a boȝe mai ten. c 1320 Seuyn Sages (W.) 569 Al so sone so he mighte. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxii. 440 Trauaileþ..for a tretour al-so sore As for a trewe tydy man. c 1410 N. Love Bonaventura's Mirr. (Gibbs MS.) xl. 88 Also mykyll as þow may. |
C. Relative and conjunctive. (In this use alswá, also took the place of OE. swá, and was very early weakened to alse, als, as, q.v.)
† 1. In what manner, in the way that (a thing is done); as. Obs.
† 2. To what extent, in the degree that (an attribute is); as. Obs.
| c 1175 Cotton Hom. 217 Alswo sanctus augustinus cweð. 1205 Layam. 468 To libben al swa þat wilde swin [1250 al so þe wilde swin]. Ibid. 69 Al swa þe boc spekeð [1250 as þe bokes speke]. 1250 Gen. & Ex. 475 Al-so he mistaȝte, also he schet. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 803 A kinedom Also long and also brod Also eure ȝet þi fader ibod. [c 1350 in Dom. Arch. II. 31 When it was wrought als it sould be. 1458 Ibid. III. 42 Werkemen als wise as they coude fynde any.] |
† 3. with subj. As though, as if. Obs.
| a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 326 Ber wiþ þe square and schauntillun Also þu were a gud Mascun. c 1410 N. Love Bonaventura's Mirr. (Gibbs MS.) xxxix. 86, I haue ouercome þe world Alse who seyth And so schulle ȝe. |