One

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one¹

  • /wʌn/ US, UK
  • /wɒn/ UK, dialectal
  • /wɐn/ Australia
  • [wän] Australia
  • /oʊn/ obsolete
  • /ɔːn/ Early Modern
  • /uːn/ Early Modern
  • /(w)ɵn/

Sounds like won (etymology 1), wan, won (etymologies 2 and 3), own (toe–tow merger) · Rhymes with -ʌn, -ɒn, -əʊn

Where it comes from

PIE word

*h₁óynos

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ís?

Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos

Proto-Germanic *ainaz

Proto-West Germanic *ain

Old English ān

Middle English on

English one

From Middle English oon, on, oan, an, from Old English ān (“one”), from Proto-West Germanic *ain, from Proto-Germanic *ainaz (“one”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos (“single, one”). Doublet of a, an, and Uno.

Cognate with Scots ae, ane, wan, yin (“one”); North Frisian ån (“one”); Saterland Frisian aan (“one”); West Frisian ien (“one”); Dutch een, één (“one”); German Low German een; German ein, eins (“one”); Danish en (“one”); Swedish en (“one”); Norwegian Nynorsk ein (“one”), Icelandic einn (“one”); Latin ūnus (“one”) (Old Latin oinos); Russian оди́н (odín), Spanish uno. False cognate of Malayalam ഒന്ന് (onnŭ), Tamil ஒன்னு (oṉṉu), ஒண்ணு (oṇṇu), ஒன்று (oṉṟu).

The use as an indefinite personal pronoun may have been influenced by unrelated French on, although the Germanic languages widely use cognates for the same sense (usually in non-subject function, but also in subject function, e.g. Luxembourgish een).

Verb form from Middle English onen.

number wone · 1 · I

  1. The number represented by the Arabic numeral 1; the numerical value equal to that cardinal number. In some religions, there is more than one god.
  2. The first positive number in the set of natural numbers.
  3. The cardinality of the smallest nonempty set.
  4. The ordinality of an element which has no predecessor, usually called first or number one.

Similar: yan, yen

pronoun oneself · one's · ones · wone · 1 · I

  1. impersonal, indefinite, pronoun One thing (among a group of others); one member of a group. Any one of the boys.
  2. impersonal, pronoun, sometimes The first mentioned of two things or people, as opposed to the other. She offered him an apple and an orange; he took (the) one and left the other.
  3. indefinite, personal, pronoun Any person (applying to people in general). One’s guilt may trouble one, but it is best not to let oneself be troubled by things which cannot be changed.  One shouldn’t be too quick to judge.
  4. pronoun Any person, entity or thing. "driver", noun: one who drives.

Similar: you, they

noun ones · wone · 1 · I

  1. The digit or figure 1. This effectively allows switching on and off of the flow of current, so it is either conducting or not conducting, creating the binary system of zeroes and ones used in digital computers.
  2. US A one-dollar bill. I need some ones to make change.
  3. One o'clock, either a.m. or p.m. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.
  4. One run scored by hitting the ball and running between the wickets; a single.
  5. A joke or amusing anecdote. Did you hear the one about the agnostic dyslexic insomniac?
  6. A question. You already know, so you can answer that one yourselves
  7. An alcoholic drink, especially a pint or can of beer. I had a quick one after work
  8. An act of sexual intercourse. Just a quick one before work
  9. A person or thing (having some specified characteristic or attribute). Now, he's a curious one.
  10. A person with a tendency to do something. He's not one for pulling his punches.
  11. archaic, endearing, ironic A term of address. Oh, most merciful one!
  12. colloquial A particularly special or compatible person or thing. I knew as soon I met him that John was the one for me and we were married within a month.
  13. dated, derogatory, euphemistic A gay person. Finally got Ollie Martin. He couldn't have more poise, and what do I care if he is one?
  14. The identity element with respect to multiplication in a ring.
  15. Internet, Leet, deliberate, misspelling, sarcastic Deliberate misspelling of !, used to amplify an exclamation, parodying unskilled typists who forget to press the shift key while typing exclamation points, thus typing “1”.! A: SUM1 Hl3p ME im alwyz L0ziN!1!?1!

adjective wone · 1 · I

  1. not comparable Of a period of time, being particular. One day the prince set forth to kill the dragon that had brought terror to his father’s kingdom for centuries.
  2. not comparable Being a single, unspecified thing; a; any. My aunt used to say, "One day is just like the other."
  3. not comparable Sole, only. He is the one man who can help you.
  4. not comparable Whole, entire. Body and soul are not separate; they are one.
  5. not comparable In agreement. We are one on the importance of learning.
  6. not comparable The same. The two types look very different, but are one species.

determiner wone · 1 · I

  1. A single. There was one box of biscuits available.
  2. Being a preeminent example. He is one hell of a guy.
  3. Being an unknown person with the specified name; see also “a certain”. The town records from 1843 showed the overnight incarceration of one “A. Lincoln”.

verb ones · oning · oned · wone · 1

  1. transitive To cause to become one; to gather into a single whole; to unite. The question, of course, evokes discernment, not dogma, but we should note that the "unknowing" involves intellectual knowledge, whereas the problematic of being "oned" involves experiential knowledge.

one²

  • /wʌn/ Singapore
  • [wɐn(˦)~wän(˦)] Singapore
  • [wɐn(˦˧)~wän(˦˧)] Singapore

Where it comes from

Analogous to several senses of Hokkien 個/个 (ê) and Mandarin 的 (de, declarative particle, nominalizer, etc.). This semantic loan might have stemmed from the apparent similarity between one as a prop-word and 的 (de) or 個 /个 (ê) as a nominalizer (e.g. 青色的 (“the green one”)). Compare Cantonese 嘅 (ge³).

particle wone · 1 · I

  1. Manglish, Singlish Used at the end of a sentence to highlight the characteristics of someone or something. Got almonds one.
  2. Manglish, Singlish Used at the end of a sentence to highlight the originator of something. My friend send one.
  3. Manglish, Singlish Used at the end of a sentence to highlight the likelihood of something occurring, as a characteristic of something else. Can easily get lost one, know?
  4. Manglish, Singlish A nominalizer used to form a noun phrase without a head noun. The sell fruits one go home already.

pronoun wone · 1 · I

  1. Manglish, Singlish, uncommon Used as a relative pronoun at the end of a relative clause. The bird that make a lot of noise one is gone already.

One³

noun

  1. honorific Honorific alternative letter-case form of one, sometimes used when referring to God or another important figure who is understood from context.one And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.

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