only

View more Literature & Language videos

The position of only is one of the major unresolved topics of discussion in English usage. The upshot is that logical position, i.e. association with the word to which only most closely refers, is not always consistent with naturalness, which generally favours a position between the subject and the verb. Fowler (1926), in a long article on the subject, made a case for allowing 'illogical' positioning in a sentence such as He only died a week ago, which is a great deal more natural and stylistically satisfactory than He died only a week ago. Equally acceptable are the following examples of actual usage:

I was...made to attend a Catholic businessmans luncheon (where I only got wine by roaring for it)—Evelyn Waugh, 1958

Those days, you only applied to one college—New Yorker, 1986

He says he only took the job because the neon sign always cheered him up—Julian Barnes, 1991

I only wanted to work with vocalists—BBC Popular Music Reviews, 2004 [Old English (up to 1150)C].

In written English, the logical position of only should be respected when serious (rather than notional or theoretical) ambiguity would otherwise result, especially in contexts such as legal language in which precision is more important than a pleasing style:

The public interest is properly served only where companies pursue the traditional goal of profit maximisation—J. E. Parkinson, 1993.

In general usage, the most natural position of only is where it always has been, between the subject and its verb, and invariable insistence on logical position sacrifices naturalness to pedantry.

Previous:	ongoing, one, on to, onto
Next:	onward, onwards, op. cit, operate

adjective

1. Alone in a given category: lone, one, particular, separate, single, singular, sole, solitary, unique. Idioms: first and last, one and only. See include/exclude.
2. Without equal or rival: alone, incomparable, matchless, nonpareil, peerless, singular, unequaled, unexampled, unique, unmatched, unparalleled, unrivaled. See same/different/compare.

adverb

1. To the exclusion of anyone or anything else: alone, but, entirely, exclusively, solely. See include/exclude.
2. Nothing more than: just, merely. See include/exclude, specific/general.

Idioms beginning with only:
only game in town, the

See also beauty is only skin deep; have an eye (eyes only) for; if only; in name only; not the only fish in the sea; one and only

IN BRIEF: Without anyone or anything else; alone.

Only the educated are free. — Epictetus (c. 50-120), Roman Stoic philosopher, former slave & tutor of Marcus Aurelius.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

sign description: The index finger makes a small circle twice.

---

For a list of words related to only, see:

• Conjunctions
• Limitations and Conditions
• Reflections and References
• Absolutes and Guarantees

---

See words rhyming with "only."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Only.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Common misspelling(s) of only

• onyl
• lonly

Dansk (Danish)
adv. - kun, blot, bare, først, endnu
adj. - eneste
conj. - men...bare

idioms:

• have only to    mangler at gøre ngt
• only have to    skal kun
• only just    med nød og næppe
• only too    altfor

Nederlands (Dutch)
slechts, alleen, uniek, enig, juist, maar

Français (French)
adv. - exclusivement, ne .. que, uniquement, le/la moindre, tout à fait, simplement, juste
adj. - seul, unique, meilleur, préféré
conj. - mais, seulement

idioms:

• have only to    suffire de, n'avoir qu'à
• only have to    suffire de, n'avoir qu'à
• only just    juste de, à peine, de justesse
• only too    ne ... que trop, trop, seulement trop

Deutsch (German)
conj. - nur
adv. - nur
adj. - einzig

idioms:

• have only to    nur... müssen
• only have to    nur... müssen
• only just    gerade erst, gerade mal so
• only too    viel zu, nur zu

Ελληνική (Greek)
conj. - αλλά, όμως, μόνο που
adv. - μόνο, μοναχά, απλώς (και μόνον)
adj. - μόνος, μοναχός, μοναδικός

idioms:

• have only to    αρκεί να, το μόνο που πρέπει να
• only have to    αρκεί να, το μόνο που πρέπει να
• only just    μόλις (και μετά βίας)
• only too    σε υπερβολικό βαθμό, υπερβολικά

Italiano (Italian)
ma, però, solo, solamente

idioms:

• only have/have only to    avere solo da
• only just    a malapena
• only too    estremamente

Português (Portuguese)
conj. - porém, só que
adv. - somente, apenas
adj. - único

idioms:

• only have/have only to    só precisa...
• only just    apenas
• only too    muito

Русский (Russian)
только, единственный

idioms:

• only have/have only to    нужно только
• only just    только что
• only too    очень

Español (Spanish)
adv. - solamente, sólo, no ... más que, no ... sino, únicamente
adj. - único, solo, singular, preeminente
conj. - pero, sino, sino que, sólo que, si no fuera que

idioms:

• have only to    tener solamente que
• only have to    tener solamente que
• only just    por poco, con las justas, acabar de
• only too    de veras, muy

Svenska (Swedish)
conj. - men, det är bara det att
adv. - blott, bara, endast
adj. - enda, enda rätta

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
只有, 只能, 仅仅, 唯一的, 最佳的, 仅有的, 可是, 不过, 要不是, 若非

idioms:

• have only to    只是必须, 只要...就能...
• only have to    只是必须..., 只要...就能...
• only just    刚才, 只有
• only too    极其, 非常, 到令人遗憾的地步

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adv. - 只有, 只能, 僅僅
adj. - 唯一的, 最佳的, 僅有的
conj. - 可是, 不過, 要不是, 若非

idioms:

• have only to    只是必須, 只要...就能...
• only have to    只是必須..., 只要...就能...
• only just    剛才, 只有
• only too    極其, 非常, 到令人遺憾的地步

한국어 (Korean)
adv. - 방금, 오직, 오히려~할뿐
adj. - 유일한, 가장 알맞은
conj. - 만약~만 아니었다면

idioms:

• have only to    ~하기만 하면 된다
• only have to    ~하기만 하면 된다

日本語 (Japanese)
adv. - 単に, ただ…のみ
adj. - 唯一の, 単独の, 無比の
conj. - ただし, 除いては

idioms:

• if only    単に…と仮定して, …さえすれば
• not the only pebble on the beach    ほかにいくらでもある
• only have/have only to    ただ～するために
• only just    かろうじて, たった今
• only part of the story    話しのほんの一部
• only too    全く, 本当に, 残念ながら
• the one and only    唯一の, 真の…
• with only half an ear    あまり注意せずに

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(حرف عطف) لكن (ظرف) فقط (صفه) وحيد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adv. - ‮רק, אך ורק, בלבד, גרידא, לא לפני, לא יותר מאשר‬
adj. - ‮יחיד, היחיד, הטוב ביותר‬
conj. - ‮אלא ש-‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.