Word.ws English Dictionary

al-

al- is the alternative form of all-.

al- is the alternative form of ad-.

Meaning of all-

Prefix

all-

  1. Indicates complete power or authority in an area.
    • all- + knowing → all-knowing
    Synonyms:
    omni-
  2. Indicates that a term applies in a general manner.
    • all- + around → all-around
    Synonyms:
    omni-, pan-

See all 3 meanings of all-

Meaning of ad-

Prefix

ad-

  1. (idiomatic) Doing, enacting, forming a verb.
    • accouple
  2. Near, close to, adjacent.
    • adaxonal
  3. Towards in direction or movement. (anatomy) Towards the midline of the body.
    • adapical
  4. (idiomatic) Intensifying, additionally.
    • acclaim
  5. Along, alongside.
    • admarginal
  6. Appending and/or prepending. Adding from either side.
    • adfix

See all 8 meanings of ad-

Origin of al-

From Middle English al-, from Old English eal-, eall- (“all-”). More at all.

Assimilated form of ad- before l. From Latin ad-.

Words formed from al-

Questions about al-

What is al- the alternative form of?
Al- is the alternative form of all-.

Words near al- in the dictionary

  1. Al Rayyan
  2. Al Shaddadi
  3. Al Tarf
  4. Al Zubanah
  5. al's
  6. al-
  7. Al-Ahsa
  8. al-Amin
  9. Al-Andalus
  10. Al-Anon
  11. al-Ba'th

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: al- (page history and authors); all- (page history and authors); ad- (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “al-.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/al-. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.