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one

[wuhn]

adjective

being or amounting to a single unit or individual or entire thing, item, or object rather than two or more; a single: one woman; one nation; one piece of cake.

being a person, thing, or individual instance or member of a number, kind, group, or category indicated: one member of the party.

existing, acting, or considered as a single unit, entity, or individual.

of the same or having a single kind, nature, or condition: We belong to one team; We are of one resolve.

noting some indefinite day or time in the future: You will see him one day.

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a certain (often used in naming a person otherwise unknown or undescribed): One john smith was chosen.

being a particular, unique, or only individual, item, or unit: I'm looking for the one adviser I can trust.

noting some indefinite day or time in the past: We all had dinner together one evening last week.

of no consequence as to the character, outcome, etc.; the same: It's all one to me whether they go or not.

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noun

10.

the first and lowest whole number, being a cardinal number; unity.

11.

a symbol of this number, as 1 or I.

12.

a single person or thing: If only problems would come one at a time!

13.

a die face or a domino face having one pip.

14.

a one-dollar bill: to change a five-dollar bill for five ones.

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15.

(initial capital letter) Neoplatonism. the ultimate reality, seen as a central source of being by whose emanations all entities, spiritual and corporeal, have their existence, the corporeal ones containing the fewest of the emanations.

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One is always a great word to know.

So is bezoar. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

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pronoun

16.

a person or thing of a number or kind indicated or understood: one of the Elizabethan poets.

17.

(in certain pronominal combinations) a person unless definitely specified otherwise: every one.

18.

(with a defining clause or other qualifying words) a person or a personified being or agency: the evil one; the one I love.

19.

any person indefinitely; anyone: as good as one would desire.

20.

Chiefly British. (used as a substitute for the pronoun I): Mother had been ailing for many months, and one should have realized it.

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21.

a person of the speaker's kind; such as the speaker himself or herself: to press one's own claims.

22.

something or someone of the kind just mentioned: The portraits are fine ones. Your teachers this semester seem to be good ones.

23.

something available or referred to, especially in the immediate area: Here, take one—they're delicious. The bar is open, so have one on me!

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Idioms

24.

at one,

in a state of agreement; of one opinion.

united in thought or feeling; attuned: He felt at one with his Creator.

25.

one and all, everyone: They came, one and all, to welcome him home.

26.

one by one, singly and successively: One by one the children married and moved away.

27.

one for the road. road (def. 9).

Origin:
before 900; Middle English oon, Old English ān; cognate with Dutch een, German ein, Gothic ains, Latin ūnus (OL oinos); akin to Greek oínē ace on a die

Can be confused: one, wan, won (see usage note at the current entry).

Usage note
One as an indefinite pronoun meaning “any person indefinitely, anyone” is more formal than you, which is also used as an indefinite pronoun with the same sense: One (or you) should avoid misconceptions. One (or you) can correct this fault in three ways. When the construction requires that the pronoun be repeated, either one or he or he or she is used; he or he or she is the more common in the United States: Wherever one looks, he (or he or she) finds evidence of pollution. EXPANDIn speech or informal writing, a form of they sometimes occurs: Can one read this without having their emotions stirred?
In constructions of the type one of those who (or that or which), the antecedent of who is considered to be the plural noun or pronoun, correctly followed by a plural verb: He is one of those people who work for the government. Yet the feeling that one is the antecedent is so strong that a singular verb is commonly found in all types of writing: one of those people who works for the government. When one is preceded by only in such a construction, the singular verb is always used: the only one of her sons who visits her in the hospital.
The substitution of one for I, a typically British use, is usually regarded as an affectation in the United States. See also he¹, they.

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Example Sentences

Individual action for the environment often calls for small acts, and recycling serves as one of the best examples of that.

One can't talk of flawed models only on that ground, because it has only to do with measure.

He even allowed one for-credit student worried about privacy to participate in the course under a fake name.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

a suffix used in the names of ketones and analogous chemical compounds: lactone; quinone.

Origin:
perhaps < Greek -ōnē feminine patronymic

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To One

Collins

World English Dictionary

one (wʌn)

—*determiner*
1.	a. single; lone; not two or more: one car
	b. (as pronoun): one is enough for now; one at a time
	c. (in combination): one-eyed; one-legged
2.	a. distinct from all others; only; unique: one girl in a million
	b. (as pronoun): one of a kind
3.	a. a specified (person, item, etc) as distinct from another or others of its kind: raise one hand and then the other
	b. (as pronoun): which one is correct?
4.	a certain, indefinite, or unspecified (time); some: one day you'll be sorry
5.	informal a an emphatic word for an : it was one hell of a fight
6.	a certain (person): one Miss Jones was named
7.	in one, all in one combined; united
8.	all one
	a. all the same
	b. of no consequence: it's all one to me
9.	(often foll by with) at one in a state of agreement or harmony
10.	be made one (of a man and a woman) to become married
11.	many a one many people
12.	neither one thing nor the other indefinite, undecided, or mixed
13.	never a one none
14.	one and all everyone, without exception
15.	one by one one at a time; individually
16.	one or two a few
17.	one way and another on balance
18.	informal off on one exhibiting bad temper; ranting
19.	one with another on average

—*pron*
20.	an indefinite person regarded as typical of every person: one can't say any more than that
21.	any indefinite person: used as the subject of a sentence to form an alternative grammatical construction to that of the passive voice: one can catch fine trout in this stream
22.	archaic an unspecified person: one came to him

—n
23.	See also number the smallest whole number and the first cardinal number; unity
24.	a numeral (1, I, i, etc) representing this number
25.	informal a joke or story (esp in the one about)
26.	music the numeral 1 used as the lower figure in a time signature to indicate that the beat is measured in semibreves
27.	something representing, represented by, or consisting of one unit
28.	Also called: one o'clock one hour after noon or midnight
29.	a blow or setback (esp in the phrase one in the eye for)
30.	the one (in Neo-Platonic philosophy) the ultimate being
31.	the Holy One, the One above God
32.	the Evil One Satan; the devil

Related: mono-, uni-, single

[Old English ān, related to Old French ān, ēn, Old High German ein, Old Norse einn, Latin unus, Greek oinē ace]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

one

O.E. an, from P.Gmc. *ainaz (cf. O.N. einn, Dan. een, O.Fris. an, Du. een, Ger. ein, Goth. ains), from PIE *oinos (cf. Gk. oinos "ace (on dice)," L. unus "one," O.Pers. aivam, O.C.S. -inu, ino-, Lith. vienas, O.Ir. oin, Breton un "one"). Originally pronounced as it still is in only, and in dial. good

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'un, young 'un, etc.; the now-standard pronunciation "wun" began c.14c. in southwest and west England (Tyndale, a Gloucester man, spells it won in his Bible translation), and it began to be general 18c. Use as indefinite pronoun influenced by unrelated Fr. on and L. homo. Slang one-arm bandit "a type of slot machine" is recorded by 1938. One-night stand is 1880 in performance sense; 1963 in sexual sense. One of the boys "ordinary amiable fellow" is from 1893. One-track mind is from 1927.

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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

-one suff.

A ketone: acetone.
A compound that contains oxygen, especially in a carbonyl radical: lactone.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

-one
A suffix used to form the names of chemical compounds containing an oxygen atom attached to a carbon atom, such as acetone.

Slang Dictionary

one definition

mod.
having to do with something unique or special. (Similar to a definite article.) : Hank? Now there is one ugly son of a gun for you.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

one

In addition to the idioms beginning with one, also see all in one piece; all the same (one); A-1 (A-one); as one; at one; at one stroke; at one time; at one time or another; back to the drawing board (square one); each and every (last one); each other (one another); fast one; for one, 1; go one better; hang (one) on; harp on (one string); hole in one; in one ear and out the other; in the same (in one) breath; irons in the fire, more than one; it takes one to know one; just one of those things; look out for (number one); more than one way to skin a cat; not one iota; number one; on the one hand; (one) picture is worth a thousand words; put all one's eggs in one basket; quick one; seen one, seen them all; six of one, half dozen of the other; that's one on me; tie one on; wear another (more than one) hat; with one arm tied behind one's back; with one voice; words of one syllable. (Note that this listing does not include those idioms where one is a personal pronoun meaning "someone" or "oneself.")