Also

How to spell also

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce also

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does also mean?

1. adverbIn addition; as well; besides.

Also in a sentence

• The hotel was clean and also very affordable.

• She manages the accounts and also trains new staff.

Where does also come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from Old English ealswa, a compound built from eall, meaning 'all' or 'wholly', and swa, meaning 'so' or 'in that way'. The literal sense was something like 'all so' or 'quite so', a way of saying 'in exactly the same manner'. Over time the compound was worn down in speech to its modern shortened form, and its meaning drifted from 'in just that way' to the looser 'in addition' or 'likewise' we use today. The very same ingredients survive in the closely related word 'as', which is itself a further contraction of the same Old English phrase. Because the components fused so smoothly, the modern spelling keeps no trace of the two separate words inside it, which is why nobody hesitates over it.

How the word is built

• al- (from eall: all)
• so (from swa: so/in that way)