Etymology

all-important

Today it means: Very important; vital or crucial. Full definition →

English important ← Middle English all- ← Old English æl-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-der.?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂elnós
  3. Proto-Germanic*allaz
  4. Proto-Germanic*ala-
  5. Proto-West Germanic*ala-
  6. Old Englishæl-
  7. Middle Englishall-
  8. Englishall-
  9. Englishimportant
  10. English todayall-important

From all- + important.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.