† alwaldendn.

Etymology: Cognate with or formed similarly to Old Saxon alouualdand , Gothic allwaldands < the Germanic base of all adj. + the Germanic base of waldend n., perhaps after the Germanic base of Old English eallwealda (see note). Compare also Old High German alawaltanti , alwaltanti (adjective) almighty, also used as noun (Middle High German alwaltende , German allwaltend ), Old Icelandic allvaldandi , also allsvaldandi (adjective) ‘almighty’. Compare all-wielding adj.The related noun Old English ealwealda (a title of) God, the Almighty, lit. ‘ruler of all’ is < the Germanic base of all adj. + the Germanic base of wealdan wield v. (for (weak) compound agent noun formations in -wealda compare e.g. Bretwalda n.), and is cognate with or formed similarly to Old Saxon alouualdo , alauualdo the omnipotent one (also used as adjective), Old High German alewalto overseer, vicegerent (Middle High German alwalte ); compare also Old High German alwalt (adjective) sovereign (in isolated use, perhaps as a weak noun, but compare Middle High German alwalt omnipotent), Old Icelandic allvaldr (noun) sovereign king, and (rare) Old Icelandic allsvaldr (adjective) omnipotent. In Old English it is attested in use as noun in the sense ‘the ruler of all, the Almighty’ and as an adjective in the sense ‘all-ruling, omnipotent’ (only with weak inflection) and occurs only in Christian use as an epithet of God, after the similar post-classical Latin Christian use of omnipotens . However, the fact that the word chiefly occurs in poetry and that the Old High German and Old Icelandic parallel formations show non-religious use may indicate that a pre-Christian native Germanic formation underlies later Christian use (see further C. T. Carr Nominal Compounds in Germanic (1939) 57). Old English eallwealdend , ælwealdend and its Germanic parallels may reflect either a parallel formation to Old English ealwealda and its Germanic parallels or a somewhat later formation showing noun use of the present participle of the base of wield v. (see waldend n., and compare -end suffix¹). It is perhaps formed after post-classical Latin (Christian) omnipotens, especially considering the similarity of -end suffix¹ and the Latin suffix (see -ent suffix). However, the Gothic parallel would be more likely to be modelled on Hellenistic Greek παντοκράτωρ Pantocrator n., which shows a different suffix. Both formations probably originally had as first element the combining form of the Germanic base of all adj. (compare the Old Saxon and Old High German forms), but show the common substitution of forms of all adv. (see discussion at all adj., pron., n., adv., and conj.). With early Middle English alwealdent (see quots. c1225¹, c1225²) compare the form wealdent at waldend n.; both forms show the usual reflex in the so-called ‘AB language’ of the south-west midlands of the stem vowel of the weak verb (Old English (Anglian) wældan , Middle English wealde : see wield v.). This may also be the origin of æ in Old English ealwældend , which occurs in a source showing traces of Anglian influence. The stem vowel of Orm's form allwældennd, on the other hand, is unexplained, as the weak verb shows the form wēldenn in his dialect.