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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.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

one

/wʌn/
The number represented by the Arabic numeral 1; the numerical value equal to that cardinal number.

    Etymology graph

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    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    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.

    Etymology 2

    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).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishon
      • inheritedOld Englishān “one”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*ain
    • derivedEnglishA “The first letter of the English alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script.”
      • derivedMiddle Englishand
        • inheritedOld Englishand
        • derivedMiddle Englishfive
      • derivedEnglishthe “...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or ve…”
        • derivedEnglish7th
        • derivedEnglishSweden “A country in Scandinavia in Northern Europe. Official name: Kingdom of Sweden. Capital: Stockholm.”
        • derivedEnglishJohn “A male given name originating from the Bible [in turn from Hebrew]; very popular since the Middle A…”
        • derivedEnglishEisen “A surname from German.”
        • derivedEnglishMilonakis—himself
        • derivedEnglishmull “To work (over) mentally; to cogitate; to ruminate.”
        • derivedEnglishNîmes “A city, the capital of Gard department, Occitania, southern France, formerly in the region of Langu…”
        • derivedEnglishon “In the state of being active, functioning or operating.”
        • derivedEnglishpassio “suffering”
        • derivedEnglishmarine “Belonging to or characteristic of the sea; existing or found in the sea; formed or produced by the …”
        • derivedEnglishninny “A silly or foolish person.”
        • derivedEnglishlack “A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth.”
        • derivedEnglishtalking “The action of the verb talk.”
        • derivedEnglisha “The first letter of the English alphabet, written in the Latin script.”
        • derivedEnglishPlacerville “A city, the county seat of El Dorado County, California, United States.”
        • derivedEnglishinside “The interior or inner part.”
        • derived (possibly)Englishwhich “What, of those mentioned or implied.”
        • derivedEnglishacetylierte
        • derivedEnglishBlau “A surname from German.”
        • derivedEnglishan “Used before a vowel sound.”
        • derivedEnglishFahr “A surname from German.”
        • derived (possibly)EnglishMatthew “A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.”
        • derivedEnglishBMC
        • derivedLatin-plus “-ple”
        • derivedEnglishming “To mix, blend, mingle.”
        • derivedEnglishRuaghagain
        • derivedEnglishhome “One’s own dwelling place; the house or structure in which one lives; especially the house in which …”
        • derivedEnglishkind “A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may b…”
        • derivedEnglishits “Belonging to it.”
        • derivedEnglishfirst “Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.”
        • derivedEnglish1940
        • derivedProto-Germanic*landą “land”
        • derivedEnglishKohl “A surname from German.”
        • derivedEnglishMöhn
        • derivedEnglishÓ “descendant”
        • derivedEnglishsmelting “The process of melting or fusion, especially to extract a metal from its ore.”
        • borrowedEnglishJapanese “Of, relating to, derived from, or characteristic of Japan, its people, language, or culture.”
        • derivedEnglishDurst “A surname.”
        • partEnglish新 “new”
        • derivedEnglishcarrying “Transportation.”
        • derivedEnglishgunfire “Shots from a gun or guns, typically creating loud report.”
        • derivedEnglishseemingly “As it appears; apparently.”
        • derivedEnglishBusch “A surname.”
        • derivedEnglishboth “Each of the two; one and the other; referring to two individuals or items.”
        • derivedEnglishNeapolitan “Of, from or relating to the city of Naples, capital and largest city of Campania, Italy, or the sur…”
        • derivedEnglishNARG “not a real gentleman”
        • derivedEnglishThe
        • derivedEnglish1993
        • derivedEnglishsyllaba “syllable”
        • derivedEnglishδαμάω “to tame”
        • derivedEnglishtits “Used to express dismay or annoyance.”
        • derivedEnglishthis “The (thing) here (used in indicating something or someone nearby).”
        • derivedEnglishany “To even the slightest extent; at all.”
        • derivedEnglishking “A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his natio…”
        • derivedEnglishpissed “Drunk.”
        • partEnglishin- “in, into, towards, within.”
        • derivedEnglishTerra “The Roman earth goddess, equivalent in the interpretatio graeca to Gaea.”
        • derivedEnglishstaged “Of an event, intentionally performed while being falsely contrived to appear authentic or coinciden…”
        • partEnglishwīg “war”
        • derivedEnglishScandinavian “Someone from Scandinavia.”
        • derivedEnglishHermann “A surname from German borrowed from German Hermann.”
        • derivedEnglish-splain “A suffix combined with a descriptive adjective or noun to create a verb meaning someone who fits th…”
        • derivedGermanPyridin “pyridine”
        • derived (possibly)Englishpound “A unit of weight in various measurement systems.”
        • derivedEnglishfalling
        • derivedEnglishHeu “hay”
        • derivedEnglishthere “In or at a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) that is perceived to be away …”
        • derivedEnglishCraig's
        • derived (possibly)Englishde- “reversal, undoing”
        • derivedEnglishhouseholds
        • derivedLatindolor “pain”
        • derivedEnglishLugau
        • derivedEnglishairports
        • derivedEnglishportable “Able to be carried or easily moved.”
        • derivedEnglishlux “In the International System of Units, the derived unit of illuminance or illumination; one lumen pe…”
        • derivedEnglishabove “Physically over; on top of; worn on top of, said of clothing.”
        • derivedEnglishbenzyl-methyl
        • partEnglishvitamin “Any of a specific group of organic compounds essential in small quantities for healthy human growth…”
        • derivedLatinaēneus “made of copper or bronze”
        • derivedEnglishἕρπω “I creep”
        • derivedEnglishother “See other (determiner) below.”
        • partEnglishsnow “The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in fl…”
        • derivedEnglishcut “To perform an incision on, for example with a knife.”
        • derivedEnglishQueen “A title used before the personal name of a queen.”
        • derived (possibly)EnglishLeid
        • derived (possibly)Englishhamr
        • derivedEnglishever “Always, frequently, forever.”
        • derivedEnglishDante's
        • derivedEnglishtasting “A small amount of food or drink.”
        • derivedEnglishsċeaft “shaft”
        • derivedEnglishdry “Free from or lacking moisture.”
        • derivedEnglishSchleswig-Holstein “One of the component states of Germany according to the current administrative division of the nati…”
        • derivedEnglishwas “Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.”
        • derivedEnglishYpres “A city in West Flanders, Belgium.”
        • derivedEnglishproduction “The act of producing, making or creating something.”
        • derivedEnglishthunderbird “A mythological bird, often associated with stormy weather, especially in various indigenous North A…”
        • derivedMalaysinga
        • derivedEnglish1945
        • derivedEnglishπεριστερά “pigeon”
        • derivedEnglishGreece “A country in Southeastern Europe. Official name: Hellenic Republic. Capital and largest city: Athen…”
        • derivedEnglishColumn
        • derivedEnglishwir “myrtle”
        • derivedEnglishMalecite-Passamaquoddy “The Algonquian language spoken by the Maliseet and Passamaquoddy peoples in New England and Canada.”
        • derivedEnglishyate “Any of several species of Eucalyptus.”
        • derivedEnglishcompound “An enclosure within which workers, prisoners, or soldiers are confined.”
        • derivedEnglishcheesy “Of or relating to cheese.”
        • derived (possibly)Scottish Gaeliccurrach “boggy plain”
        • derivedEnglishhræfn “raven”
        • derivedEnglishMay “The fifth month of the Gregorian calendar, following April and preceding June.”
        • derivedEnglish1911
    • semantic loanMandarin的

    Related: English a (doublet), English an (doublet), English Uno (doublet), Scots ae, North Frisian ån, Saterland Frisian aan, West Frisian ien, Dutch een, German Low German een, German ein, Danish en, Swedish en, Norwegian Nynorsk ein, Icelandic einn, Latin ūnus, Old Latin oinos, Russian оди́н, Spanish uno, Malayalam ഒന്ന്, Luxembourgish een

    Words built on it: one-one, one-way, one-off, one-many, many-one, once, one-year-old, one too many, everyone, alone

    Meanings

    num
    1. The number represented by the Arabic numeral 1; the numerical value equal to that cardinal number.
    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.
    pron
    1. One thing (among a group of others); one member of a group.
    2. The first mentioned of two things or people, as opposed to the other.
    3. Any person (applying to people in general).
    4. Any person, entity or thing.
    noun
    1. The digit or figure 1.
    2. A one-dollar bill.
    3. One o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.
    4. One run scored by hitting the ball and running between the wickets; a single.
    5. A joke or amusing anecdote.
    6. A question.
    adj
    1. Of a period of time, being particular.
    2. Being a single, unspecified thing; a; any.
    3. Sole, only.
    4. Whole, entire.
    5. In agreement.
    6. The same.

    Sources

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