Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb In addition; besides.
  • adverb Likewise; too.
  • conjunction And in addition.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Wholly so; quite so; so.
  • In like manner; likewise.
  • In addition; too; further.
  • As; so. See as.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb obsolete In like manner; likewise.
  • adverb In addition; besides; as well; further; too.
  • adverb obsolete Even as; as; so.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in addition

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English ealswā : eall, all; see al- in Indo-European roots + swā, so; see so.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English also, alswo, alswa, (also alse, als, as > English as), from Old English ealswā, eallswā ("completely so, additionally, just as, just so, even as, even so, as, as if, so, so as, likewise, also; likewise, in just the same way"), equivalent to all +‎ so. Cognate with Scots alsa, alswa ("also, even so, in the same way, as, as well"), West Frisian alsa ("so, just so, even so, thus"), Old Saxon alsō ("similarly, as if, just as, when"), Dutch alzo ("so, thus"), German also ("so, thus"), Danish altså ("so"), Swedish alltså ("so, therefore, accordingly, thus, then"). Compare also Swedish också ("also, too, as well") and Albanian aq sa ("as much as"), compound of aq ("as much") and sa ("how much, so, as"). See all, so, as.

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Examples

  • I would also point out that thinks like unrestricted private enterprise *also* made this country great, but last I checked you were still a Democrat.

    "He's totally eclipsed. Nothing he says is going to be important for anything that happens in the next 12 months. The speech is a nonevent." Ann Althouse 2008

  • A judge who says “this is unconstitutional, but you know, the people voted for it” should also be condemned–as the state and U.S. Constitutions are *also* a reflection of the will of the people.

    California Legislature Passes Same-Sex Marriage Law; Schwarzenegger hints he’ll veto 2005

  • Whence was this also, that when she had told me this vision, and I would fain bend it to mean, “That she rather should not despair of being one day what I was; ” she presently, without any hesitation, replies: “No; for it was not told me that, ‘where he, there thou also; ’ but ‘where thou, there he also’”?

    The Third Book 1909

  • For, from henceforth, if _a man take thy coat, let him take thy cloak also; if he will compel thee to go with him one mile, go two; if he strike thee on one cheek, turn to him the other also_.

    Paradoxes of Catholicism Robert Hugh Benson 1892

  • It is only when the adaptations happen to be distinctive of the first (or lowest) of these taxonomic divisions, that the theory which accounts for _these_ adaptations accounts also for the forms which present them, -- i.e. becomes _also_ a theory of the origin of species.

    Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol. 1 and 3, of 3) An Exposition of the Darwinian Theory and a Discussion of Post-Darwinian Questions George John Romanes 1871

  • Since εὐθέως is not found in the xiith or the xiiith chapters of this same Gospel, — nor πάλιν in the ist, vith, ixth, or xiiith chapter, — (for the sufficient reason that _neither word is wanted in any of those places_,) — what possible “suspiciousness” can be supposed to result from the absence of both words from the xvith chapter also, where _also_ neither of them is wanted?

    The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to S. Mark John William Burgon 1850

  • It is also very important to note that scientists * also* were predicting Global Warming well before the 1970s.

    ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science Sharon Astyk none@example.com 2010

  • i love that the kitchen you work in is so inquisitive..i also i like the fact that your chef will actually make you stuff if you ask him..cool stuff at that..also i wish i had a better camera, like yours...that deep fried cheesecake will haunt my dreams in the most delectable way possible even though i havent tasted it

    Happy in the Kitchen Brilynn 2009

  • ­also a stigma and bad feeling towards drug users but every one of them is also somebody's son or somebody's daughter and mothers need to know their children are being looked after by someone who isn't judging them.

    Mirror.co.uk - News 2010

  • 1994 Nature Conservancy May-June 18/2 People, who scare turtles, also bring litter, which..also brings more raccoons to predate nests.

    Mind your words ... Frank Wilson 2007

Comments

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  • file under: German words that crop up when I try to speak another language. is a wonderful all-purpose word, although the French donc may have taken its place recently.

    June 14, 2009

  • A South African friend of mine uses also in a different way than any other native English speaker I have ever talked to: at the end of a sentence, where most English speakers would use "too" or "as well".

    e.g. I would like to come out for dinner also (where 'also' refers to the speaker)

    Does anybody know if it is a South African thing?

    April 15, 2011

  • Doesn't sound that odd to me.

    April 15, 2011

  • "I hate tea."

    "Me also!"

    April 15, 2011

  • Yeah, I've heard a few people use it like that. It's not a regional thing as far as I'm aware, more like an affectation.

    April 15, 2011

  • I don't hate tea.

    Also.

    April 15, 2011