numai

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numai

/ˈnu.maj/

Rhymes with -umaj

Where it comes from

Univerbation of nu + mai. Compare Latin American Spanish nomás, Catalan només and Venetan noma. First attested in the 16th century.

The imperative-accompanying sense is a semantic loan from Hungarian csak.

adverb нꙋ́маи · нумай · numa’ · numa

only (no more than) și nu numai
only (exclusively) Intrarea este permisă numai personalului autorizat.
excessive, sometimes, before predicate noun, with redundant tot Indicates the subject to be characterised by an abundance of the respective noun: all numai un zâmbet
Similar: tot
informal, followed by negated phrase optionally introduced with că almost, nearly, just about (of an event that was close to happening) Furtuna de ieri numai că nu a doborât copacii.
Similar: aproape, cât pe ce, mai
colloquial, in narration suddenly, unexpectedly Mergeam cu el pe stradă, și numa-l văd cum cade într-o gură de canal.
informal, with ce only just (not long before) ―Cât mai ai de lucru? ―Numai ce am terminat.
Similar: abia, de-abia, taman, tocmai
in the following collocations just (quite) numai bun
nonstandard synonym of ci (“but rather”)
Similar: ci
Transylvania, colloquial Follows an imperative, sometimes serving to point out the simplicity of the command or to disregard protest.

Similar: abia, decât, doar, exclusiv

conjunction нꙋ́маи · нумай · numa’ · numa

nonstandard but
Similar: dar, însă

Thesaurus

adverb

Similar: abia, decât, doar, exclusiv

In English

but solely, only, merely (obsolete)
just only, simply, merely
only without others or anything further; exclusively

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MLA

"numai." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ro/numai. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

numai. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ro/numai

Chicago

"numai." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ro/numai.

BibTeX

@misc{numai_2026,
  title = {numai},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ro/numai},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}