Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ALL, n.

1. The whole number; as, all have not the same disposition; that is, all men.
2. The whole; the entire thing; the aggregate amount; as, our all is at stake. And Laban said, All that thou seest is mine. – Gen. xxxi. This adjective is much used as a noun, and applied to persons or things. All in all, is a phrase which signifies, all things to a person, or every thing desired. Thou shalt be all in all, and I in thee, / Forever. – Milton. When the words, and all, close an enumeration of particulars, the word all is either intensive, or is added as a general term to express what is not enumerated; as, a tree fell, nest, eagles, and all. – L'Estrange. At all, is a phrase much used by way of enforcement or emphasis, usually in negative or interrogative sentences. He has no ambition at all; that is, not in the least degree. Has he any property at all? All and some, in Spenser, Mason interprets, one and all. But from Lye's Saxon Dictionary, it appears that the phrase is a corruption of the Sax. calle et somne, all together, all at once, from somne, together, at once. See Lye, under somne. All in the wind, in seaman's language, is a phrase denoting that the sails are parallel with the course of the wind, so as to shake. – Mar. Dict. All is well, is a watchman's phrase, expressing a state of safety. All, in composition, enlarges the meaning, or adds force to a word; and it is generally more emphatical than most. In some instances, all is incorporated into words, as in almighty, already, always; but in most instances, it is an adjective prefixed to other words, but separated by a hyphen.