alone English · revision 3585

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1200 (Ormulum)|origins=ang ān}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /əˈləʊn/, US /əˈloʊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound, Middle English al one or al ane,^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) from [[all]] and [[one]],^(AHD 2000)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004) continuing Old English all āna “all by oneself”,^(Etymonline) in which āna, “by oneself”, is from [[m|ang|ān|t=one]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) It preserves the old pronunciation of one.^(Etymonline) German [[m|de|allein]] and Dutch [[m|nl|alleen]] are similar compounds.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) In Middle English it was sometimes written a lone, the source of [[lone]] by [[aphesis]].^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ All by oneself: probably about 1200, in the ''Ormulum'',^(Barnhart 1988) or the 12th century.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “nothing else, only”, as in ''man does not live by bread alone'', is from about 1200.^(Etymonline) Tyndale had ''onlye'' where the King James Version has ''alone''.^(Etymonline) “Without an equal, unique” is from 1535.^(OED 1989) ''To let alone'' or ''leave alone'' is from 1366.^(OED 1989) In Middle English it was often strengthened by a pronoun, as ''me alone'',^(OED 1989) and the English Dialect Dictionary records ''mine alane'' in Cumberland.^(Wright 1898) The adverb ''alonely'' seems to have gone out of use in the 17th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – ''al one'', by oneself (''Ormulum'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – only, and nothing else.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1366 – ''to let alone''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1535 – unique.^(OED 1989)

+ * 17th century – ''alonely'' falls out of use.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Apart from others; [[solitary]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Without anyone or anything else; only.^(AHD)

+ # Considered separately from all others of its class.^(AHD)

+ # Without equal; [[unique]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Without others; without help.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Exclusively, only.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aloneness]]

+ * [[stand-alone]]

+ * [[let alone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lone]]

+ * [[lonely]]

+ * [[all]]

+ * [[one]]

+ * [[only]]

+ * [[atone]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary notes that ''alone'' stresses being apart from others without necessarily implying unhappiness, while ''lonely'' and ''lonesome'' suggest a painful awareness of being alone.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}