overall

See also: overalls

English

Etymology

From Middle English overall, overal, from Old English ofer eall, ofer ealle (“over all”), equivalent to over +‎ all. Compare Saterland Frisian oural, uural (“everywhere”), West Frisian oeral (“everywhere”), Dutch overal (“everywhere”), German Low German overall, överall (“everywhere; all over”), German überall (“all over; everywhere”), Danish overalt (“everywhere”), Swedish överallt (“everywhere; overall”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) (adjective, adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəɹˈɔːl/
• (UK) (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊvəɹɔːl/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (US) (adjective, adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈɔl/
• (US) (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊvɚɔl/
• (cot–caught merger; adjective, adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈɑl/
• (cot–caught merger; noun) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊvɚɑl/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːl

Adjective

overall (comparative more overall, superlative most overall)

1. All-encompassing, all around.
   • 1949, W. Keith Hancock, Margaret M. Gowing, British War Economy:

     We believe also that a controlled economy cannot be understood without some overall view of the controlling institutions: hence our short studies — shorter by far than the original drafts — of the central administration.

Synonyms

• big, entire, total, whole; see also Thesaurus:entire
• exhaustive, thorough; see also Thesaurus:comprehensive

Translations

all-encompassing

• Bulgarian: общ (bg) (obšt), всеобхватен (bg) (vseobhvaten)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 全面的 (zh) (quánmiàn de), 綜合的／综合的 (zh) (zōnghé de)

• Czech: celkový (cs) m
• Dutch: globaal (nl)
• Finnish: kokonais- (fi) (stem of kokonainen, in compounds), kokonaisvaltainen (fi), kaikenkattava
• French: global (fr), total (fr)
• German: Gesamt- (de)
• Hungarian: átfogó (hu), teljes (hu), össz- (hu)
• Italian: complessivo (it), globale (it), generale (it)
• Malayalam: മൊത്തത്തിലുള്ള (mottattiluḷḷa)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: helhetlig

• Occitan: total (oc), global (oc), general (oc), complet (oc)
• Portuguese: abrangente (pt), geral (pt)
• Russian: о́бщий (ru) (óbščij), всео́бщий (ru) (vseóbščij), по́лный (ru) (pólnyj), всеобъе́млющий (ru) (vseobʺjémljuščij)
• Spanish: total (es), completo (es), general (es), global (es), comprensivo (es), holístico (es)
• Swedish: övergripande (sv)
• Ukrainian: зага́льний (uk) (zahálʹnyj), по́вний (póvnyj), всеося́жний (vseosjážnyj)

Adverb

overall (not comparable)

1. Generally; with everything considered.

   Overall, there is not enough evidence to form a clear conclusion.

Synonyms

• all things considered; see also Thesaurus:mostly

Derived terms

• length overall

Translations

generally

• Azerbaijani: ümumilikdə, ümumiyyətlə, ümumiyyətcə, ümumiliklə, ümumən
• Bulgarian: изобщо (bg) (izobšto)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 總地來說／总地来说 (zǒng de láishuō), 大體上／大体上 (zh) (dàtǐshang), 大致 (zh) (dàzhì)

• Dutch: globaal (nl)
• Finnish: kaiken kaikkiaan (fi), ylipäänsä (fi)
• French: en général (fr), globalement (fr)
• Galician: en xeral
• German: insgesamt (de), alles zusammengenommen
• Hungarian: összesen (hu)
• Interlingua: supertoto
• Italian: tutto sommato (it), in generale, complessivamente (it), nell'insieme
• Malayalam: മൊത്തത്തിൽ (mottattil)
• Portuguese: em geral
• Russian: в це́лом (ru) (v célom), в о́бщем и це́лом (ru) (v óbščem i célom), по́лностью (ru) (pólnostʹju)
• Spanish: sobretodo (es), totalmente (es), completamente (es)
• Tagalog: sa kabuoan, sa pangkalahatan
• Ukrainian: загало́м (zahalóm), в ціло́му (uk) (v cilómu)

Noun

overall (plural overalls)

1. (British) A garment worn over other clothing to protect it; a coverall or boiler suit. A garment, for manual labor or for casual wear, often made of a single piece of fabric, with long legs and a bib upper, supported from the shoulders with straps, and having several large pockets and loops for carrying tools.
2. (in the plural, US) A garment, worn for manual labor, with an integral covering extending to the chest, supported by straps.

Synonyms

• overslop
• slop

Translations

protective garment worn over clothing

• Bulgarian: прести́лка f (prestílka), рабо́тен комбинезо́н m (rabóten kombinezón)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 吊帶工裝褲／吊带工装裤 (diàodài gōngzhuāngkù), 工裝褲／工装裤 (zh) (gōngzhuāngkù), 吊帶褲／吊带裤 (diàodàikù)

• Dutch: overall (nl) m
• Esperanto: supertuto
• Finnish: haalarit (fi) pl
• French: blouse (fr) f, combinaison (fr), salopette (fr) f
• German: Overall (de) m, Latzhose (de) f
• Italian: blusa (it) f, tuta (it) da lavoro (it)
• Japanese: オーバーオール (ōbāōru)
• Korean: 멜빵바지 (melppangbaji), 오버롤즈 (obeoroljeu)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: халаад (mn) (xalaad)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: snekkerbukse m or f, overall m

• Polish: kombinezon (pl) m
• Portuguese: macacão (pt), jardineira (pt) f
• Russian: комбинезо́н (ru) m (kombinezón)
• Spanish: (Venezuela) braga (es) f, (Spain) mono (es) m, (Am.) overol (es) m
• Swahili: surupwenye (sw)
• Swedish: overall (sv) c
• Ukrainian: спецо́дяг m (specódjah), комбінезо́н m (kombinezón)
• Vietnamese: quần yếm

Further reading

• “overall”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “overall”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• all over, all-over, allover, valerol

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English overall, from over + all.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔvɛˈroːl/, /ɔvɛˈral/, /ʊvɛˈroːl/, /ʊvɛˈral/

Noun

overall c

1. a coverall

Declension

Declension of overall

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	overall	overalls
	definite	overallen	overallens
plural	indefinite	overaller	overallers
	definite	overallerna	overallernas

References

• overall in Nationalencyklopedin (needs an authorization fee).