aLL

All is a word used to denote the total quantity or extent of something. It functions as a determiner when placed before a noun phrase and as a pronoun when standing alone. In common usage, all can refer to the entirety of a group, mass, or domain, or to the whole of a set of items; it contrasts with some or part.

As an adjective, all is often interchangeable with every in contexts involving plural or mass nouns, though every is more typical with singular count nouns. The phrase all of is common before pronouns or noun phrases, allowing emphasis or stylistic variation. All can also function with non-count nouns: all the water was gone.

Etymology traces all to Old English ealle, from Proto-Germanic allaz, related to other Germanic languages, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning whole or entire. In philosophy and logic, all is associated with universal quantification, as in for all x, P(x), expressing statements that hold across an entire domain. In everyday language, all carries scope, emphasis, and sometimes inclusive or exclusive shades, and its use may vary by dialect and register.

See also: universal quantifier, every, whole, totality.