alway

A1L1W4A1Y4
/ˈɔːl.weɪ/

A form of always — At all times; throughout all time; since the beginning.

OriginMiddle English alwey ← Old English ealneġ →
UncommonScrabble 11
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adverbalway (not comparable)
  1. alternativearchaicnot comparableAlternative form of always.

    Tired flower! upon my breast, I would wear thee alway

    1900, Ernest Dowson, Villanelle of Sunset, lines 16–17
    3 more examples

    And lo I am with you allwaye even untyll the ende off the worlde.

    1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew xxviij, folio xliii, recto

    Then Ieſus ſaid vnto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 7:6, column 1

    I seal myself upon thee with my might, Abiding alway out of all men's sight Until God loosen over sea and land The thunder of the trumpets of the night.

    1862-1866, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Laus Veneris

Origin

  1. Old Englishealneġ
  2. Middle Englishalwey
  3. Englishalway

From Middle English alwey, from Old English ealneġ, ealne weġ (“always, perpetually”, literally “all the way”), from ealne + weġ (accusative case), equivalent to al- (“all”) + way. Cognate with Scots alwayis (“always”). More at all, way.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with alway

Galway
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

alway. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alway

MLA

“alway.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alway. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “alway,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alway.

Source: alway on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.