English Explanatory Dictionary

only

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Alone in a category.
  2. Singularly superior; the best.
  3. Without sibling; without a sibling of the same gender.
  4. Mere.
adv
  1. Without others or anything further; exclusively.
  2. No more than; just.
  3. As recently as.
  4. Emphasizing something that is just or necessary.
  5. Used to express surprise or consternation at an action.
  6. Just, simply, undoubtedly.
  7. Introduces a disappointing or surprising outcome that renders futile something previously mentioned.
  8. Above all others; particularly.
conj
  1. Introduces a clause with negative polarity, often one which upsets the listener's expectations.
  2. Under the condition that; but.
  3. But, except; but in fact.
noun
  1. An only child.
particle
  1. Placed at the end of a sentence to emphasize that something is trivial, small, undemanding or deserving of belittlement.

Pronunciation

/ˈəʊn.li/ /ˈəʊn.i/ /ˈɑːn.li/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-only.wav /ˈoʊn.li/ En-us-only.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-only.wav [ˈoːn.li] [ˈɔːn.lɪ] /ˈonli/ /(w)ɵnˈli/ /ˈwənli/

Word forms

only onely onlie onlys onlies

Etymology

From Middle English oonly, only, from Old English ānlīċ, ǣnlīċ (“only; singular; solitary”), from Proto-Germanic *ainalīkaz. Cognate with obsolete Dutch eenlijk, German ähnlich (“similar”), Old Norse álíkr, Swedish enlig (“unified”). By surface analysis, on(e) + -ly. * Regarding the different phonological development of only and one, see the note in one.

Synonyms

lone sole individual first and last one one and only only single singular solitary unitary nonpareil peerless unequaled alone azygous incomparable matchless sui generis unique unparalleled unmatched unrivalled simple very bare just mere that's all nia

Related words

if only what lah1–14 lor2–3 lor1 ah6 leh1–2 mah leh3–6 one1–3 hor1 know nia sia hor2 ah1–3 hah1–3 meh ba2 leh7–11 ba1 liao already Gupta A. F. (1992) in volume 18 number 1 →DOI

Derived words

abstinence only a chain is only as strong as its weakest link almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades beauty is only skin deep beauty is only skin-deep ciphertext-only attack close only counts in horseshoes close only counts in horseshoes and darts close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades driver-only operation ears-only eyes-only face only a mother could love face that only a mother could love for your eyes only freight-only Goddess only knows God only knows ha ha only serious heaven only knows if only the czar knew if only the tsar knew I only work here it's only a matter of time it's only a question of time it wasn't only only KJV-onlyer locks only keep honest people honest Lord only knows not only … but also one and only onlier onliness only a mother could love only-begotten onlyborn only child only daughter only dead fish go with the flow onlyer only fools and horses work only game in town onlyhood only in Ohio only just only move only Nixon can go to China only Nixon could go to China only son only the good die young only time will tell only too producer-only market progestin-only progestogen-only programmable read-only memory programmable read only memory read-only read-only access read-only memory

Translations

Albanian: vetëm Belarusian: адна́к Bulgarian: обаче Catalan: però Catalan: si no fos que Czech: jenže Finnish: mutta French: mais Greek: αλλά Greek: μόνο Hungarian: csak Khmer: តែ Portuguese: mas Portuguese: porém Portuguese: todavia Russian: то́лько вот Russian: но Russian: одна́ко Ukrainian: одна́к Ukrainian: проте́
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