Etymology

only

on·ly
O1N1L1Y4

Today it means: Alone in a category. Full definition →

Middle English oonly ← Old English ānlīċ ← Proto-Germanic *ainalīkaz
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*ainalīkaz
  2. Old English · inherited fromānlīċ
  3. Middle English · inherited fromoonly
  4. English todayonly

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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.