one – English noun declension

English noun forms of one

Noun: one
Singularone
Pluralones

Sample Sentences

  • 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. [2024 January 4, Matthew Sparkes, “First working graphene semiconductor could lead to faster computers”, in New Scientist, retrieved 18 Jan 2024:]
  • I need some ones to make change.
  • 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. [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:]
  • The ophthalmic surgeon attends Tuesdays and Saturdays, at half-past one. [1853 September 17, “Metropolitan Hospitals & Medical Schools”, in The Lancet, volume 62, number 1568, →DOI, page 268:]
  • 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. [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:]
  • Did you hear the one about the agnostic dyslexic insomniac?
  • You already know, so you can answer that one yourselves
  • I had a quick one after work
  • There’s nothing better than drinking a cold one when the weather’s boiling outside
  • Just a quick one before work
  • Now, he's a curious one.
  • Well, well, well, it seems the silent one does have a voice, after all.
  • That's the one to watch if you want to win.
  • He's not one for pulling his punches.
  • Pause. They look meaningly at one another. / "You are a one for being roundabout," says the lady. [1905, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, page 55:]
  • Oh, most merciful one!
  • Hey, sleepy one.
  • I knew as soon I met him that John was the one for me and we were married within a month.
  • That car's the one — I'll buy it.
  • 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 [1995, Bryan Adams, Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?:]
  • Finally got Ollie Martin. He couldn't have more poise, and what do I care if he is one? [1933 March 25, Dorothy Parker, “The Diary of a Lady”, in The New Yorker, page 13:]
  • A: SUM1 Hl3p ME im alwyz L0ziN!1!?1! (Someone help me; I'm always losing!?)
  • B: y d0nt u just g0 away l0zer!!1!!one!!one!!eleven!!1! (Why don't you just go away loser!)
  • 2003 September 26, "DEAL WITH IT!!!!11one!!", in alt.games.video.nintendo.gamecube, Usenet
  • 2004 November 9, "AWK sound recorder!!!11!!11one", in comp.lang.awk, Usenet
  • 2007 December 1, "STANFORD!!1!!1!one!11!!1oneone!1!1!", in rec.sport.football.college, Usenet

Etymology

1. PIE word
2. *h₁óynos
3. Etymology tree
4. Proto-Indo-European *ís?
5. Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos
6. Proto-Germanic *ainaz
7. Proto-West Germanic *ain
8. Old English ān
9. Middle English on
10. English one
11. 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 an.
12. 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. False cognate of Malayalam ഒന്ന് (onnŭ), Tamil ஒன்னு (oṉṉu), ஒண்ணு (oṇṇu), ஒன்று (oṉṟu).
13. 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).
14. Verb form from Middle English onen. See: Dutch Nouns 'een', Swedish Nouns 'en', Icelandic Nouns 'einn', Latin Nouns 'ūnus'.