Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗Without others or anything further; exclusively. · No more than; just. · As recently as. · Emphasizing something that is just or necessary.
Under the condition that; but. · But, except; but in fact.
Placed at the end of a sentence to emphasize that something is trivial, small, undemanding or deserving of belittlement.
Alone in a category. · Singularly superior; the best. · Without sibling; without a sibling of the same gender. · Mere.
An only child.
From Middle English oonly, only, from Old English ānlīċ, ǣnlīċ (“only; singular; solitary”), from Proto-Germanic *ainalīkaz. Cognate with obsolete Dutch eenlijk, German ähnlich (“similar”), Old Norse álíkr, Swedish enlig (“unified”). By surface analysis, on(e) + -ly. * Regarding the different phonological development of only and one, see the note in one.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "oonly"
},
"expansion": "Middle English oonly"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "ānlīċ"
},
"expansion": "Old English ānlīċ"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*ainalīkaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *ainalīkaz"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "eenlijk"
},
"expansion": "Dutch eenlijk"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "ähnlich",
"t": "similar"
},
"expansion": "German ähnlich (“similar”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "non",
"2": "álíkr"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse álíkr"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "enlig",
"3": "",
"4": "unified"
},
"expansion": "Swedish enlig (“unified”)"
},
{
"name": "surf",
"args": {
"1": "+suf",
"2": "en",
"3": "one",
"4": "ly",
"alt1": "on(e)",
"id2": "adjectival"
},
"expansion": "By surface analysis, on(e) + -ly"
}
],
"links": [
[
"oonly",
"oonly#Middle_English"
],
[
"only",
"only#Middle_English"
],
[
"ānlīċ",
"anlic#Old_English"
],
[
"ǣnlīċ",
"ænlic#Old_English"
],
[
"*ainalīkaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/ainalīkaz"
],
[
"eenlijk",
"eenlijk#Dutch"
],
[
"ähnlich",
"ähnlich#German"
],
[
"álíkr",
"álíkr#Old_Norse"
],
[
"enlig",
"enlig#Swedish"
],
[
"on(e)",
"one#English"
],
[
"-ly",
"-ly#English:_adjectival"
],
[
"one",
"one#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "adv",
"glosses": [
"Without others or anything further; exclusively.",
"No more than; just.",
"As recently as.",
"Emphasizing something that is just or necessary."
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
],
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 183052
},
{
"pos": "conj",
"glosses": [
"Under the condition that; but.",
"But, except; but in fact."
],
"tags": [
"informal"
],
"recordId": "d44ab16ab887cc6ac6e9a7289724a2d827161514d966b18f867198064f9c5f8e",
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 183053
},
{
"pos": "particle",
"glosses": [
"Placed at the end of a sentence to emphasize that something is trivial, small, undemanding or deserving of belittlement."
],
"tags": [
"Singapore",
"Singlish"
],
"recordId": "eb50a5c9e2ee03d7f3d3dfb8306ade81e2309c57faa3e55ed7e4bfebe2b0783f",
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 183055
},
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Alone in a category.",
"Singularly superior; the best.",
"Without sibling; without a sibling of the same gender.",
"Mere."
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable",
"obsolete"
],
"recordId": "f48209c3c4fd278984c41b0aa8eebd18d4968dce6ab09e494e1bd6742fec89f2",
"rawRecordSha256": "3f927837dfefecc9a91317779152d3af5a35bf2db83e61edc0dc8e281595cbe6",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 183051
},
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"An only child."
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "fa1b82cded7c7aefe29a052d93fb1d0625bbb1546f05b1c1fa53d44fa8374ce6",
"rawRecordSha256": "369a3c68c9ae4e29ab4c09e668df58dcde7df6137e971c48faf363865366da8d",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 183054
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 4,
"glosses": 0
}
}