Etymology

overall

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Today it means: All-encompassing, all around. Full definition →

Middle English overall ← Old English ofer eall
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The story

  1. Old English · derived fromofer eall
  2. Middle English · inherited fromoverall
  3. English todayoverall

From Middle English overall, overal, from Old English ofer eall, ofer ealle (“over all”), equivalent to over + all. Compare Saterland Frisian oural, uural (“everywhere”), West Frisian oeral (“everywhere”), Dutch overal (“everywhere”), German Low German overall, överall (“everywhere; all over”), German überall (“all over; everywhere”), Danish overalt (“everywhere”), Swedish överallt (“everywhere; overall”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.