all-tournament

The compound adjective "all-tournament" is a modern formation in American English, primarily used in sports journalism and awards. It follows a straightforward compounding pattern where the quantifier "all" is prefixed to the noun "tournament" to create a new semantic unit. The word "tournament" itself has a rich history, evolving from the Old French term for a jousting contest, which in turn derives from the verb torner ("to turn"), referring to the turning of horses in combat. In "all-tournament," the literal sense of "pertaining to the entire contest" is specialized to signify an honor bestowed for excellence demonstrated throughout the complete duration of the event, thus connecting the ancient concept of a structured competition to a specific modern accolade.

Structure: all (entire) + tournament (competition) - all: From Old English eall, meaning "entire, whole, every." In this compound, it functions as an intensifier specifying the scope. - tournament: From Old French torneiement, meaning "contest" or "jousting event." It functions as the core noun, denoting the competitive event.