Already

already: in the past it was completed

all ready: everything is prepared

So does this word “already” mean to imply that everything has been prepared? When I say “I am ready,” I often mean to imply that I am prepared for- or prepared to do- something.

When I use the word “already”, I believe that what I most often mean to imply is that something was completed in the past. Such as in the sentence, “I already did that thing.” Or, “I already went to the store.”

Thus, I find it quite bizarre to say “all ready” when I am talking about a thing which is completed, rather than something that is being prepared. The following statements may help to illustrate the discrepancy I wish to point out:

• I already went to the store

• I (am) all ready to go to the store

In the first statement, the word “already” is used to say that an action has been completed; in the second statement, the words “all ready” are used to say that one is prepared to take an action.

Why? What does this mean? How did this become vernacular?