Almighty

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɔːlˈmaɪti/

Definitions

1. Possessing unlimited or infinite power, often used in reference to a deity ; extremely great or intense in degree or extent
2. Having complete and boundless authority, especially in a divine sense ; remarkably powerful or vast in impact or scope
3. Endowed with supreme power without limitation ; exceedingly large or strong, surpassing ordinary limits

Etymology: Old English speakers had a word for this idea long before the Norman Conquer, and it was built from plain parts: "ælmihtiġ" combined "æl", meaning "all", with "mihtig", meaning "mighty" or "powerful", with the suffix "-ig" adding the sense of "having" the quality. Together it meant "all-powerful," and it was reserved almost entirely for God in the earliest texts. The root goes back further still. Its ancestor, reconstructed as "*alamahtīgaz" in Proto-Germanic, was already a compound of "all" and "might," so the word has been built the same way for well over a thousand years. English "might" itself comes from the same family as the verb "may," which once meant "to be able," so "mighty" and "almighty" are, at heart, descriptions of ability. Over time the word lost its exclusive link to the divine. By the later medieval period, speakers were applying it loosely to anything extraordinary, which is why "almighty" now also describes a noise, a storm, or a blow that is exceedingly strong, far beyond ordinary limits.

Synonyms: all-powerful, omnipotent, supreme, infallible

Antonyms: weak, powerless, limited