alone.
By oneself, solitary.
Meaning & usage
By oneself, solitary.
I can't ask for help because I am alone.
By oneself, solitary. Not involved in a romantic relationship.
Lacking peers who share one's beliefs, experiences, practices, etc.
Senator Craddock wants to abolish the estate tax, and she's not alone.
I always organize my Halloween candy before eating it. Am I alone in this?
Apart from, or exclusive of, others.
Mere; consisting of nothing further.
Unique; rare; matchless.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Indo-European *h₂elnós Proto-Germanic *allaz Proto-West Germanic *all Old English eall Proto-Indo-European *ís? Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos Proto-Germanic *ainaz Proto-West Germanic *ain Old English ān Old English eall ān Middle English all oon Middle English allone English alone From Middle English allone, from earlier all oon (literally “all one”), contracted from the Old English phrase eall ān (“completely alone”), equivalent to al- (“all”) + one. Cognate with Scots alane (“alone”), Saterland Frisian alleene (“alone”), West Frisian allinne (“alone”), Dutch alleen (“alone”), Low German alleen (“alone”), German allein (“alone”), Danish alene (“alone”), Swedish allena (“alone”). More at all and one. For the different phonological development of alone and one, see the note in one.
By oneself; apart from, or exclusive of, others; solo.
She walked home alone.
Without outside help.
The job was too hard for me to do alone.
Focus adverb, typically modifying a noun and occurring immediately after it. Not permitting anything further; exclusively.
The president alone has the power to initiate a nuclear launch.
Focus adverb, typically modifying a noun and occurring immediately after it. Not requiring anything further; merely.
Oral antibiotics alone won't clear the infection.
Focus adverb, typically modifying a noun and occurring immediately after it. Used to emphasize the size or extent of something by selecting a subset.
Her wardrobe is huge. She has three racks for blazers alone.
The first sentence alone sold me on the book.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Indo-European *h₂elnós Proto-Germanic *allaz Proto-West Germanic *all Old English eall Proto-Indo-European *ís? Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos Proto-Germanic *ainaz Proto-West Germanic *ain Old English ān Old English eall ān Middle English all oon Middle English allone English alone From Middle English allone, from earlier all oon (literally “all one”), contracted from the Old English phrase eall ān (“completely alone”), equivalent to al- (“all”) + one. Cognate with Scots alane (“alone”), Saterland Frisian alleene (“alone”), West Frisian allinne (“alone”), Dutch alleen (“alone”), Low German alleen (“alone”), German allein (“alone”), Danish alene (“alone”), Swedish allena (“alone”). More at all and one. For the different phonological development of alone and one, see the note in one.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.