along

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old English andlang, from prefix and- + lang (“long”). Doublet of endlong.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈlɒŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈlɔŋ/
• (US with the cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /əˈlɑŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒŋ, -ɔŋ
• Hyphenation: a‧long

Preposition

along

1. By the length of; in a line with the length of; lengthwise next to.
   • 1892, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”, in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes‎^[1], page 294:

     They were waiting for me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching along the entire front of the house, with three long windows reaching down to the floor

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter III, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.

   • 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:

     As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels.

2. In a line with, with a progressive motion on; onward on; forward on.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Samuel 1 1-Chapter-6/#2 6:2:

     The kine […] went along the highway.

   • 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion‎^[2], page 266:

     In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.

   • 1892, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Boscombe Valley Mystery”, in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes‎^[3], page 93:

     Swiftly and silently he made his way along the track which ran through the meadows.

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time.

Synonyms

• alongst (archaic)
• endlong (dialectal)

Descendants

• → Tok Pisin: long

Translations

by the length of; in a line with the length of; lengthwise next to

• Arabic: عَلَى طُول (ar) (ʕalā ṭūl)

  Egyptian Arabic: على طول (ʕalā ṭūl)

• Armenian: երկայնքով (erkaynkʻov)
• Azerbaijani: boyunca
• Bulgarian: край (bg) (kraj), покрай (bg) (pokraj)
• Catalan: al llarg de, per (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (often omitted) 沿著 (zh) (yánzhe), 沿着 (yánzhe)

• Czech: podél (cs)
• Danish: langs
• Dutch: langs (nl)
• Esperanto: laŭ (eo)
• Estonian: piki (et), mööda
• Finnish: pitkin (fi)
• French: le long de (fr)
• Galician: ambró m, ambroa f, ao longo de
• Georgian: გასწვრივ (gasc̣vriv)
• German: entlang (de), längs (de)
• Greek: κατά μήκος (katá míkos)

  Ancient: κατά (katá) (+ accusative)

• Hungarian: mentén (hu), mellett (hu), hosszában (hu)
• Icelandic: meðfram (is)
• Ido: alonge (io)
• Interlingua: preter (ia)
• Irish: ar feadh, feadh
• Italian: lungo (it)
• Japanese: に沿って (ja) (ni sotte)
• Latvian: gar
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Livonian: pids
• Luxembourgish: laanscht
• Macedonian: долж (dolž), крај (kraj)
• Malay: sepanjang
• Malayalam: ഉടനീളം (ml) (uṭanīḷaṁ)
• Mirandese: al lhargo de
• Old English: andlang
• Polish: wzdłuż (pl), po (pl)
• Portuguese: ao longo de
• Romanian: de-a lungul, în lungul
• Russian: вдоль (ru) (vdolʹ)
• Scots: alang
• Serbo-Croatian: duž (sh)
• Slovak: pozdĺž, popri
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: pó (+ locative)

• Spanish: a lo largo, a lo largo de
• Swedish: längs (sv)
• Thai: ตาม (th) (dtaam)
• Turkish: boyunca (tr)

in a line with, with a progressive motion on; onward on; forward on

• Arabic: بِالتَّوَازِي مَعَ (bi-t-tawāzī maʕa)

  Egyptian Arabic: بالتوازي مع (bi-t-tawāzī maʕ)

• Belarusian: уздо́ўж (uzdóŭž), па (pa)
• Bulgarian: по (bg) (po)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (often omitted) 沿著 (zh) (yánzhe), 沿着 (yánzhe)

• Danish: hen ad
• Dutch: langs (nl)
• Finnish: pitkin (fi)
• German: entlang (de)
• Icelandic: eftir (is)
• Ido: alonge (io)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: по (po)
• Malay: sepanjang
• Maori: mā (mi)
• Polish: wzdłuż (pl), po (pl)
• Portuguese: ao longo de, por (pt)
• Romanian: de-a lungul, în lungul
• Russian: вдоль (ru) (vdolʹ), по (ru) (po)
• Scots: alang
• Slovak: po
• Spanish: por (es)
• Swedish: längs (sv)
• Turkish: boyunca (tr)
• Ukrainian: уздо́вж (uzdóvž), повз (povz), по (uk) (po)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} بِجَانِب (ar) (bijānib)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} lungo (it)
• Japanese: に沿って (ja) (ni sotte)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 따라서 (ko) (ttaraseo)
• Norwegian:

  Norwegian Bokmål: ^{(please verify)} langs

Adverb

along (not comparable)

1. In company; together.

   John played the piano and everyone sang along.

   • 2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the Guardian‎^[4]:

     From The Best of You to The Pretender, their own material invariably came equipped with huge choruses designed to be bellowed along to; they covered Another One Bites the Dust and Under Pressure; they gave every impression of being willing to play all night were it not for the curfew.

2. Onward, forward, with progressive action.

   Don't stop here. Just move along.

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

Synonyms

• alongst (archaic)

Derived terms

terms derived from the preposition or adverb

• all along
• along about
• along of
• alongshelf
• alongshore
• alongside
• along the lines
• along the lines of
• along the way
• along those lines
• along with
• be along
• bring along
• clapalong
• come-along
• come along
• cut along
• drag-along right
• get along
• git along
• go along
• go-along
• go along to get along
• happen along
• help along
• herealong
• hitch in one's get-along
• home-along
• jolly along
• knitalong
• lie along
• light along
• move along
• muddle along
• pass along
• play along
• poke along
• pootle along
• read-along
• read along
• ride-along
• ride along
• rip along
• rock along
• rub along
• run along
• scrape along
• sing along
• singalong
• sing-along
• somewhere along the line
• string along
• sweep along
• tag along
• tag-along right
• tagger-along
• tear along
• therealong
• trundle along
• upalong
• walkalong
• wherealong

 

Translations

in company, together

• Belarusian: ра́зам (rázam)
• Bulgarian: заедно (bg) (zaedno)
• Catalan: plegats (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 一起 (zh) (yīqǐ)

• Danish: med (da)
• Dutch: mee (nl)
• Esperanto: kun-
• Finnish: mukana (fi), mukaan (fi)
• French: accompagné (fr)
• Georgian: ერთად (ertad)
• Greek: μαζί με (mazí me)
• Hindi: साथ (hi) (sāth)
• Icelandic: með (is)
• Ido: alonge (io)
• Japanese: に沿って (ja) (ni sotte)
• Korean: 을 따라서 (eul ttaraseo)
• Latvian: kopā
• Macedonian: заедно (zaedno)
• Malay: bersama
• Malayalam: കൂടെ (ml) (kūṭe)
• Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: razem (pl), wraz (pl)
• Portuguese: junto (pt), comigo (pt), conosco (pt) pl
• Romanian: împreună (ro)
• Russian: вме́сте (ru) (vméste)
• Swedish: med (sv)
• Tamil: சேர்த்து (ta) (cērttu)
• Telugu: తోపాటు (tōpāṭu)
• Thai: ด้วยกัน (dûai-gan), ด้วยกัน (dûai-gan)
• Turkish: birlikte (tr)
• Ukrainian: разо́м (uk) (razóm)

onward, forward

• Armenian: առաջ (hy) (aṙaǰ)
• Belarusian: напе́рад (napjérad), дале́й (daljéj)
• Bulgarian: нататък (natatǎk), натам (natam), напред (bg) (napred)
• Catalan: endavant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 向前 (zh) (xiàngqián)

• Danish: fremad (da)
• Dutch: door (nl)
• Finnish: eteenpäin (fi)
• German: weiter (de)
• Icelandic: áfram (is)
• Khmer: ធ្វើត (tvəə tɑɑ)
• Latvian: uz priekšu
• Luxembourgish: weider
• Macedonian: понатаму (ponatamu)
• Mirandese: abante
• Portuguese: adiante (pt)
• Romanian: înainte (ro)
• Romansch: per lung (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader), per liung (Sursilvan), par lùng (Sutsilvan)
• Russian: вперёд (ru) (vperjód), да́льше (ru) (dálʹše), dalej
• Scottish Gaelic: air adhart
• Slovak: ďalej
• Spanish: a lo largo de
• Turkish: ileri (tr)
• Ukrainian: упере́д (uperéd), да́лі (dáli)

Anagrams

• Anglo, Anglo-, Golan, Logan, NALGO, anglo, anglo-, logan, long a, longa

Dupaningan Agta

Noun

along

1. son (term of address for a male child)

Indonesian

Etymology 1

From Javanese ꦲꦭꦺꦴꦁ (along), probably from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *aluŋ (“shade, shadow”), from Proto-Austronesian *aluŋ (“shade, shadow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈalɔŋ]
• Hyphenation: along

Noun

along (first-person possessive alongku, second-person possessive alongmu, third-person possessive alongnya)

1. abundant catch of fishermen.

Etymology 2

From Borneo Malay [Term?], probably cognate of Dupaningan Agta along (“son”) and Indonesian sulung.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈalɔŋ]
• Hyphenation: along

Noun

along (first-person possessive alongku, second-person possessive alongmu, third-person possessive alongnya)

1. firstborn child.

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈalɔŋ]
• Hyphenation: along

Noun

along (first-person possessive alongku, second-person possessive alongmu, third-person possessive alongnya)

1. Acronym of alat penolong (“rescue equipment”)..

Further reading

• “along” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Karao

Noun

along

1. nosebleed

Maranao

Noun

along

1. shadow

Derived terms

• malongalong