# one

Pronunciation: say "WUN" US/UK /wʌn/, AUS /wɐn/

## Determiner

1. Single; exactly 1 of the thing named.
   - Simple: Just a single thing, not two or more.
   - _Only one ticket was left at the box office._
   - _One coffee, please, no sugar._
11. Used for emphasis to mark a striking or outstanding example of something.
   - Simple: Used to say that something is a very strong or striking example.
   - _That is one big dog you've got there._
   - _It was one strange conversation._
19. Used before a name to mark the person as otherwise unknown; a certain.
   - Simple: Used before a name to mean a certain person you know nothing else about.
   - _The letter was signed by one J. Harper, clerk._
   - _A complaint was lodged by one Thomas Reed of this parish._

## Pronoun

2. A single member of a group, or a particular person or thing among others, including the first of two as against the other.
   - Simple: A single person or thing from a group, as in one of my friends.
   - _Each one of these boxes needs a label._
   - _One of my neighbors found our missing cat asleep in her garage._
6. Any person or people in general, used as a more formal generic 'you'.
   - Simple: Any person or people in general, used as a more formal way of saying 'you'.
   - _One never knows what the weather will do here._
   - _One can see the whole valley from the top of the hill._
7. Any person, entity, or thing, used in definitions and descriptions.
   - Simple: Any person or thing, used when explaining or describing what someone is.
   - _A borrower is one who takes something and promises to give it back._
   - _A pessimist is one who always expects the worst to happen._

## Noun

3. Used in place of a noun or noun phrase that the context makes clear, often after an adjective, as in the red one or I owe you one.
   - Simple: Used instead of repeating a word for a person or thing, as in the red one or the quiet one.
   - _If you can cover my shift on Saturday, I'll owe you one._
   - _In the third round, the boxer finally landed one squarely on his opponent's jaw._
9. The ideal partner, or the person or thing that is exactly right, used with the. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The right person or thing for you, the special one.
   - _After three years of looking, this house is the one._
   - _Everyone asks how you know when you've met the one._
10. The hour of 1 o'clock, a.m. or p.m., with 'o'clock' left out.
   - Simple: The hour of one o'clock, in the day or at night.
   - _The staff canteen serves hot lunches from twelve until one every weekday._
   - _I couldn't put the book down and was still reading at one in the morning._
12. A joke or funny story, usually followed by about and its subject.
   - Simple: A joke or funny story, usually in the phrase 'the one about'.
   - _Stop me if you've heard this one._
   - _That's an old one that my grandfather used to tell at every family dinner._
13. An alcoholic drink, especially a beer.
   - Simple: A drink with alcohol in it, most often a beer.
   - _Let's grab a cold one at the bar after the game._
   - _Just one, then I'm driving home._
14. A bill worth a single dollar, the note itself rather than the sum. *(US)*
   - Simple: In the US, a one-dollar bill, a single dollar in paper money.
   - _The cashier ran out of ones by noon._
   - _Do you have a one for the parking machine?_
17. The digit or figure 1 as a written or stored symbol.
   - Simple: The written figure 1, as a mark on paper or a screen.
   - _On the old scoreboard, the ones were hard to tell from the sevens._
   - _He mistook the seven for a one._
20. A person given to something, or the type who does it, used with for.
   - Simple: A person who likes or tends to do something, used with 'for'.
   - _I'm not one for parties, I'd rather read._
   - _He was one for long walks whatever the weather._
21. Used after an adjective to address someone, ironically or affectionately.
   - Simple: Put after a describing word when you speak directly to someone.
   - _Come here, little one._
   - _Lead on, wise one, we'll follow._

## Numeral

4. The number 1, the first and smallest positive whole number, used in counting.
   - Simple: The number 1, the first number when you count.
   - _She counted slowly down from ten to one before opening her eyes._
   - _The score was one to nothing at half time._
8. Used after a noun as a label for the first in a numbered series, as in page one or day one.
   - Simple: The number used to name the first thing in a list, as in page one or lane one.
   - _The scandal was on page one of every newspaper in the country._
   - _She knew from day one that the job would not be easy._

## Adjective

5. Single but unspecified; some or a certain, as in naming a particular but unnamed day or time in a story.
   - Simple: Some, or a certain, when you do not say which: one day, one shop in town.
   - _One evening, a stranger knocked on our door and asked for directions._
   - _One morning in March, the letter she had waited years for finally arrived._
15. United, whether as a single whole or in agreement and opinion.
   - Simple: Joined together as a single whole, or agreeing completely.
   - _After the merger the two firms were one._
   - _The crowd moved as one toward the gates._
16. Sole or only; the single person or thing there is.
   - Simple: The only person or thing of its kind.
   - _She was the one person who never laughed at him._
   - _The one shop in the village closed last year._
18. The same, forming a single identity despite appearances.
   - Simple: The same thing or kind, not two different ones.
   - _The mystery writer and the shy librarian next door turned out to be one and the same._
   - _The morning star and the evening star turned out to be one: both are Venus._

## Noun

22. A euphemistic and often derogatory term for a gay man. *(dated)*
   - Simple: An old, unkind, indirect word for a gay person.
   - _Nobody said the word 'gay'; they just asked whether he was one._
   - _In the old play, a gossiping neighbor hints that the bachelor upstairs is one, and everyone knows what she means._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To unite or join into a single whole.
- (noun) In mathematics, the multiplicative identity of a ring: the element that leaves any other unchanged when multiplied by it.
- (noun) In cricket, a single run, scored by hitting the ball and running once between the wickets.
- (noun) A single act of having sex, as in "a quick one."
- (particle) In Singapore and Malaysian English, a sentence-final particle that stresses a typical trait or habit of a person or thing.
- (particle) In Singapore and Malaysian English, a particle ending a sentence to stress who made or did something.
- (particle) In Singapore and Malaysian English, a sentence-final particle stressing that something tends to happen or is sure to, as part of its nature.
- (particle) In Singapore and Malaysian English, a particle that lets a describing phrase stand alone as a noun, with no main noun stated.
- (pronoun) In Singapore and Malaysian English, a word placed after a relative clause to mark it, like "who" or "that."

## Origin

Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ("single, one") led to Proto-Germanic *ainaz ("one") and Proto-West Germanic *ain, then to Old English ān ("one") and Middle English oon. Related words include Dutch een, German ein, and Latin ūnus, and a and an are doublets. The unrelated French on may have shaped its use as an indefinite pronoun, even though related words serve this purpose widely across the Germanic languages.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/one (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).