Eallriht

Part of speech: adjective, adverb

Definitions

1. An Old English adjective meaning wholly correct, proper, or fitting in every respect
2. Describing something in Old English that is completely right, true, or just without any flaw
3. In Old English usage, wholly correct or fitting, applied to what is entirely proper or lawful

Etymology: In Old English, "eallriht" was a compound of "eall" ("all, entire, wholly") and "riht" ("right, correct, just"). Its meaning was literal and emphatic: something was entirely correct, or wholly as it should be. The "all" did not mean a collection of things. It intensified the rightness. The modern phrase "all right" grew out of that older sense. Over the centuries the emphasis softened, and "all right" came to mean "satisfactory" or "acceptable" rather than "completely correct." The spelling "alright," which closes the two words into one, is much more recent and is still widely regarded as nonstandard, though it is increasingly common in informal writing. The exact dates for each stage of this change are uncertain, so the sense shift is better understood as a gradual drift than a single moment.