anyone

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈen.i.wʌn/^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound, from English any + one,^[2][3] written separately in Middle English, as any on or eny on.^[4] Old English used ǣnigmon (“any man”) in the same sense.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any person: as two words since Old English according to Etymonline,^[2] and in the 15th century according to Merriam-Webster, who dates the pronoun to about 1500.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The pronoun was written as two words for centuries;^[2][3] the Shorter Oxford finds the one-word form from the early 18th century,^[3] and Etymonline from 1844.^[2] It has the same meaning as anybody.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 15th century – Middle English any on.^[4]
• early 18th century – written as one word.^[3]
• 1844 – one word, according to Etymonline.^[2]

Modern meaning

Pronoun

1. Any person at all; anybody.

Related words

• anything
• anywhere
• no one
• nobody
• everybody
• everyone
• somebody
• someone
• any
• one
• anybody

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary distinguishes anyone, “any person”, from any one, “whichever one of a group”: anyone may join admits everybody, any one may join admits a single person, and only any one can be followed by of.^[6]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin