along

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éntsder.

Proto-Germanic *anda-

Proto-West Germanic *anda-

Old English and-

Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos

Proto-Germanic *langaz

Proto-West Germanic *lang

Old English lang

Old English andlang

Middle English

English along

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

Pronunciation

• (UK)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈlɒŋ/
  • (Northumbria) IPA^(key): /əˈlæŋ/
• (General American)
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /əˈlɑŋ/
  • (without the cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /əˈlɔŋ/

• 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.

   Water whished along the boat as we rowed upstream.

   • 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, page 52:

     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.

   • 1990, “Transport and Communications”, in The Geographical Digest 1990-91‎^[2], Oxford: Heinemann Educational Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 106, column 2:

     The first 80 km section of the Hyesan to Kanggye link was opened on 22.12.88 to follow the Chinese border along the Amnok-gang river valley.

   • 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^[3], 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^[4], 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, page 304:

     We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall to the door of 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 (zh) (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 Greek: 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)

• Southern Altai: јаказынча (ǰakazïnča)
• Spanish: a lo largo, a lo largo de
• Swedish: längs (sv)
• Thai: ตาม (th) (dtaam)
• Turkish: boyunca (tr)
• Welsh: ar hyd

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 (uzdówž), па (pa)
• Bulgarian: по (bg) (po)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (often omitted) 沿著 (zh) (yánzhe), 沿着 (zh) (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
• Māori: 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), a lo largo de
• 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:

  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^[5]:

     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, page 18:

     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.

   • 1989 May, Jeff MacInnis, “Braving the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 588:

     Here in Franklin Bay during our first season we hurtle along at 20 knots, dodging ice floes littering the surface.

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 same vein
• along the way
• along those lines
• along with
• be along
• bowl along
• bring along
• bumble along
• clapalong
• come-along
• come along
• cosy along
• crack along
• cut along
• drag-along right
• drift along
• follow along
• following along
• fool along
• gee along
• get along
• git along
• go-along
• go along
• go along to get along
• grub along
• happen along
• help along
• herealong
• hitch in one's get-along
• home-along
• hum along
• inch along
• jolly along
• knitalong
• lamp along
• let along
• lie along
• light along
• move along
• muddle along
• pass along
• play along
• poke along
• pootle along
• push along
• ramp along
• read along
• read-along
• ride along
• ride-along
• rip along
• rock along
• rub along
• run along
• scrape along
• sing along
• sing-along
• singalong
• sling along
• somewhere along the line
• string along
• sweep along
• tag along
• tag-along right
• tagger-along
• tear along
• therealong
• trundle along
• upalong
• walkalong
• wherealong
• worry along

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)
• Ingrian: kera
• 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 (natatăk), 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)
• Romansh: per lung (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader), per liung (Sursilvan), par lùng (Sutsilvan)
• Russian: вперёд (ru) (vperjód), да́льше (ru) (dálʹše), да́лее (ru) (dáleje)
• Scottish Gaelic: air adhart
• Slovak: ďalej
• Spanish: a lo largo de
• Turkish: ileri (tr)
• Ukrainian: упере́д (uperéd), да́лі (dáli)

Anagrams

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

Dupaningan Agta

Noun

along

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

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈaloŋ/ [ˈa.lɔŋ]
• Rhymes: -aloŋ
• Syllabification: a‧long

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Javanese along.

Noun

along (plural along-along)

1. abundant catch of fishermen

Etymology 2

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

Noun

along (plural along-along)

1. firstborn child

Etymology 3

Noun

along (plural along-along)

1. syllabic abbreviation of alat penolong (“rescue equipment”)

Further reading

• “along”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Javanese

Romanization

along

1. romanization of ꦲꦭꦺꦴꦁ

Karao

Noun

along

1. nosebleed

Maranao

Noun

along

1. shadow

Derived terms

• malongalong

Sarawak Malay

Etymology

Clipping of sulong.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.loŋ/

Noun

along

1. firstborn child

   Synonym: sulong

   Antonyms: usu, bongsu

   Along, angah, usu

   Firstborn child, second-born child, last-born child