only

英 ['əʊnlɪ] 美['onli]

only 唯一的

来自one,一，-ly,形容词后缀。即一次性的。

only: only: [OE] Only is a compound formed in the Old English period from ān, ancestor of modern English one, and -lic ‘-ly’. It originally meant ‘solitary’ as well as ‘unique’, but this sense has been taken over by the related lonely. Only preserves the early diphthongal pronunciation which its source one has lost.
=> lonely, one
only (adj.): Old English ænlic, anlic "only, unique, solitary," literally "one-like," from an "one" (see one) + -lic "-like" (see -ly (1)). Use as an adverb and conjunction developed in Middle English. Distinction of only and alone (now usually in reference to emotional states) is unusual; in many languages the same word serves for both. German also has a distinction in allein/einzig. Phrase only-begotten (mid-15c.) is biblical, translating Latin unigenitus, Greek monogenes. The Old English form was ancenned.

2. The arteries are diseased and a transplant is the only hope.: 动脉已经发生病变，移植是唯一的希望。

3. The crowd in Robinson's Coffee-House was thinning, but only by degrees.: 鲁宾逊咖啡屋里的人正在变少，但也只是渐少而已。

4. They have only a vague idea of the amount of water available.: 他们只是大概知道可用水的总量。

5. We were in the same college, which was male-only at that time.: 我们那时在同一所学院，当时只招男生。