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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

alone

/əˈləʊn/
By oneself, solitary.

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    Origin

    From Middle English allone, from earlier all oon (literally “all one”), contracted from the Old English phrase eall ān (“completely alone”), equivalent to al- (“all”) + one. Cognate with Scots alane (“alone”), Saterland Frisian alleene (“alone”), West Frisian allinne (“alone”), Dutch alleen (“alone”), Low German alleen (“alone”), German allein (“alone”), Danish alene (“alone”), Swedish allena (“alone”). More at all and one. For the different phonological development of alone and one, see the note in one.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishallone
      • derivedMiddle Englishall oon
        • inheritedOld Englisheall ān
          • partOld Englisheall
            • inheritedProto-West Germanic*all “all”
              • inheritedProto-Germanic*allaz “all; entire, whole”
              • derivedProto-Germanic*allaz “all; entire, whole”
            • derivedProto-West Germanic*all “all”
          • partOld Englishān “one”
            • inheritedProto-West Germanic*ain
              • inheritedProto-Germanic*ainaz “one”
    • surface analysisEnglishall “Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoti…”
    • surface analysisEnglishal- “assimilated form of ad-”
    • surface analysisEnglishone “The number represented by the Arabic numeral 1; the numerical value equal to that cardinal number.”

    Related: Scots alane, Saterland Frisian alleene, West Frisian allinne, Dutch alleen, Low German alleen, German allein, Danish alene, Swedish allena

    Meanings

    adj
    1. By oneself, solitary.
    2. Not involved in a romantic relationship.
    3. Lacking peers who share one's beliefs, experiences, practices, etc.
    4. Apart from, or exclusive of, others.
    5. Mere; consisting of nothing further.
    6. Unique; rare; matchless.
    adv
    1. By oneself; apart from, or exclusive of, others; solo.
    2. Without outside help.
    3. Not permitting anything further; exclusively.
    4. Not requiring anything further; merely.
    5. Used to emphasize the size or extent of something by selecting a subset.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: alone