one
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: other: /w/
other: /w/
other: /w/
other: /w/
enpr: wŭn
ipa: /wʌn/
rhymes: -ʌn
homophone: won (etymology 1)
enpr: wŏn
ipa: /wɒn/
rhymes: -ɒn
homophone: wan
homophone: won (etymologies 2 and 3)
ipa: /wɐn/
ipa: [wän]
enpr: ōn
ipa: /oʊn/
ipa: /ɔːn/
ipa: /uːn/
rhymes: -əʊn
homophone: own (toe–tow merger)
note: Tanglish, Kerala
ipa: /(w)ɵn/
Forms: form: ones
form: wone
form: 1
form: I
Etymology: PIE word
 *h₁óynos
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”).
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. Doublet of a, an, and Uno.
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.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 2024 January 4, Matthew Sparkes, “First working graphene semiconductor could lead to faster computers”, in New Scientist, retrieved 18 Jan 2024:
glosses: The digit or figure 1.
examples: I need some ones to make change.
qualifier: by ellipsis
glosses: Used to briefly refer to a noun phrase understood by context
A one-dollar bill.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter 5, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 97:
text: The ophthalmic surgeon attends Tuesdays and Saturdays, at half-past one.
ref: 1853 September 17, “Metropolitan Hospitals & Medical Schools”, in The Lancet, volume 62, number 1568, →DOI, page 268:
text: It was a weary time. A carriage clock had been placed on the discoloured wooden mantelpiece, and slowly its hands crept on from one to two and from two to three.
ref: 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “In which Three Investigators Come across a Dark Soul”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
qualifier: by ellipsis
glosses: Used to briefly refer to a noun phrase understood by context
One o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
qualifier: by ellipsis
glosses: Used to briefly refer to a noun phrase understood by context
One run scored by hitting the ball and running between the wickets; a single.
examples: text: Did you hear the one about the agnostic dyslexic insomniac?
qualifier: by ellipsis
glosses: Used to briefly refer to a noun phrase understood by context
A joke or amusing anecdote.
examples: text: I had a quick one after work
text: There’s nothing better than drinking a cold one when the weather’s boiling outside
qualifier: by ellipsis
glosses: Used to briefly refer to a noun phrase understood by context
An alcoholic drink, especially a pint or can of beer.
examples: text: Just a quick one before work
qualifier: by ellipsis
glosses: Used to briefly refer to a noun phrase understood by context
An act of sexual intercourse.
examples: text: Now, he's a curious one.
text: Well, well, well, it seems the silent one does have a voice, after all.
text: That's the one to watch if you want to win.
synonyms: sort
type
glosses: A person or thing (having some specified characteristic or attribute).
examples: text: He's not one for pulling his punches.
text: Pause. They look meaningly at one another. / "You are a one for being roundabout," says the lady.
ref: 1905, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, page 55:
synonyms: sort
type
[the] type
glosses: A person or thing (having some specified characteristic or attribute).
A person with a tendency to do something.
raw_tags: followed by for
examples: text: Oh, most merciful one!
text: Hey, sleepy one.
synonyms: sort
type
glosses: A person or thing (having some specified characteristic or attribute).
A term of address.
qualifier: following an adjective
examples: text: I knew as soon I met him that John was the one for me and we were married within a month.
text: That car's the one — I'll buy it.
text: When you love a woman then tell her / that she's really wanted / When you love a woman then tell her that she's the one / 'cause she needs somebody to tell her / that it's gonna last forever
ref: 1995, Bryan Adams, Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?:
glosses: A particularly special or compatible person or thing.
examples: text: Finally got Ollie Martin. He couldn't have more poise, and what do I care if he is one?
ref: 1933 March 25, Dorothy Parker, “The Diary of a Lady”, in The New Yorker, page 13:
glosses: A gay person.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: The identity element with respect to multiplication in a ring.
examples: text: A: SUM1 Hl3p ME im alwyz L0ziN!1!?1!
translation: Someone help me; I'm always losing!?
english: Someone help me; I'm always losing!?
text: B: y d0nt u just g0 away l0zer!!1!!one!!one!!eleven!!1!
translation: Why don't you just go away loser!
english: Why don't you just go away loser!
text: 2003 September 26, "DEAL WITH IT!!!!11one!!", in alt.games.video.nintendo.gamecube, Usenet
text: 2004 November 9, "AWK sound recorder!!!11!!11one", in comp.lang.awk, Usenet
text: 2007 December 1, "STANFORD!!1!!1!one!11!!1oneone!1!1!", in rec.sport.football.college, Usenet
glosses: 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".
Synonyms: sense: mathematics: multiplicative identity
word: unity
sense: US: one-dollar bill
word: single
sense: sarcastic substitution for !
word: 1
sense: sarcastic substitution for !
word: eleven