Altogether

Part of speech: adverb

Pronunciation: /ɔːl.tʊˈɡɛð.ə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. Used to emphasize the total amount or to indicate something is complete or in every way
2. The entire sum or totality of elements is emphasized, indicating completeness or wholeness without exception
3. The total amount or entirety of something is underscored, suggesting a sense of completeness or total inclusion

Etymology: "Altogether" is a compound of "all" and "together," and its history shows the two words fusing from a phrase into a single adverb. In Middle English it appeared as "altogeder" or "altogedere," and the older Old English "ealġeador" and "eallġeador" carried the same sense of "all in one gathering." Related forms survive across the North Sea family: Scots "awthegither," Dutch "altegaar," and Middle High German "alzegater" all mean much the same thing. The adverb's modern sense of "completely or totally" grew out of this idea of everything being brought together into one whole. Its most striking side story is a noun sense meaning nakedness, a usage later popularized by George du Maurier in his 1894 novel "Trilby."

Synonyms: completely, entirely, totally, wholly, fully

Antonyms: partially, incompletely, somewhat, not at all, half