Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb Entirely; completely; utterly.
  • adverb With all included or counted; all told.
  • adverb On the whole; with everything considered.
  • noun A state of nudity. Often used with the:

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Wholly; entirely; completely; quite.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb obsolete All together; conjointly.
  • adverb Without exception; wholly; completely.
  • noun informal nakedness; -- used mostly in the phrase “in the altogether”.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb Without exception; wholly; completely.
  • adverb On the whole; with everything considered.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun informal terms for nakedness
  • adverb to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (`whole' is often used informally for `wholly')
  • adverb with everything considered (and neglecting details)
  • adverb with everything included or counted

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English al togeder : al, all; see all + togeder, together; see together.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English altogeder, altogedere, equivalent to al- (“all”) +‎ together. Cognate with Scots awthegither ("altogether"). Compare also Old English eallġeador ("altogether"), West Frisian allegearre ("altogether"). More at together.

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Examples

  • Locke, in particular, ruined the term altogether in English philosophical literature, where it has ceased to possess any recognized definite meaning.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7: Gregory XII-Infallability 1840-1916 1913

  • I'm blessed if I can make it out -- he's dropped the title altogether, and now calls himself _Mister_ -- I've forgotten for the moment the rest of it, but it is an English name.

    The Port of Missing Men Meredith Nicholson 1906

  • It may be affirmed that the writers of the age of Louis XIV would not have used these expressions: they would never have thought of using the word "equality" without applying it to some particular object; and they would rather have renounced the term altogether than have consented to make a living personage of it.

    democracy in America, volume 2 1838

  • Shrinking from the term altogether is not what our educational system should be doing.

    Kansas City Star: Front Page 2011

  • Shrinking from the term altogether is not what our educational system should be doing.

    Kansas City Star: Front Page 2011

  • Shrinking from the term altogether is not what our educational system should be doing.

    Kansas City Star: Front Page 2011

  • Shrinking from the term altogether is not what our educational system should be doing.

    Kansas City Star: Front Page 2011

  • Asthma is unlikely to be a single disease, so we should abolish the term altogether, states an Edito ...

    THE MEDICAL NEWS Editors 2010

  • So erase those, and keep your eye out for another label altogether, one that we can put just a touch more trust into.

    AlterNet.org Main RSS Feed Jaymi Heimbuch, Planet Green 2010

  • So erase those, and keep your eye out for another label altogether, one that we can put just a touch more trust into.

    AlterNet.org Main RSS Feed 2010

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