Once Meaning
/wʌn(t)s/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
advOne and only one time.
advFormerly; during some period in the past.
Sentence Examples
I once wanted to be an astrophysicist.
For once in my life I'm doing a good deed... And it is useless.
We didn't know how we would cope once the money had gone.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
You have to press the button ____ to start the machine.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She had ____ dreamed of becoming a pilot, but life took her in a completely different direction.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English ones, from Old English ānes, a remodelling (after ān (“one”)) of ǣnes, itself an extension of ǣne (“once”) with the genitive suffix -es. Equivalent to one + -s. Cognate with Saterland Frisian enst, insen (“once”), West Frisian iens (“once”), Dutch eens (“once”), German Low German eens, ins (“once”), German einst (“once”). More at one (including regarding the development of the pronunciation) and -s.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill. Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft."
— 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
"The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common."
— 1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick:
"Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet."
— 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
"Once bring in the police and what is inevitably bound to follow? There will be calls and interrogations and cross-questionings […]"
— 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
"The wisdom of God thought fit to acquaint David with that court which we shall once govern."
— 1612–1626, [Joseph Hall], “(please specify the page)”, in [Contemplations vpon the Principall Passages of the Holy Storie], volume (please specify |volume=II, V, or VI), London, →OCLC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
You have to press the button ____ to start the machine.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She had ____ dreamed of becoming a pilot, but life took her in a completely different direction.