different between alone vs merely
alone
English
Etymology
From Middle English allone, from earlier all oon (“alone”, literally “all one”), contracted from the Old English phrase eall ?n (“entirely alone, solitary, single”), 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. Regarding the different phonological development of alone and one, see the note in one.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /??l??n/
- (General American) IPA(key): /??lo?n/, enPR: ?-l?n?
- (Hong Kong) IPA(key): /??lu?/
- Rhymes: -??n
- Hyphenation: a?lone
Adjective
alone (comparative more alone, superlative most alone)
- By oneself, solitary.
- 1611, King James Version, Genesis ii. 18
- It is not good that the man should be alone.
- 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- Alone on a wide, wide sea.
- 1611, King James Version, Genesis ii. 18
- (predicatively, chiefly in the negative) Lacking peers who share one's beliefs, practices, etc.
- (obsolete) Apart from, or exclusive of, others.
- (obsolete) Mere; consisting of nothing further.
- (obsolete) Unique; rare; matchless.
Derived terms
- alonely
Translations
Adverb
alone (not comparable)
- By oneself; apart from, or exclusive of, others; solo.
- Synonyms: by one's lonesome, solitarily, solo; see also Thesaurus:solitarily
- Without outside help.
- Synonyms: by oneself, by one's lonesome, singlehandedly; see also Thesaurus:by oneself
- Focus adverb, typically modifying a noun and occurring immediately after it.
- Not permitting anything further; exclusively.
- Synonyms: entirely, solely; see also Thesaurus:solely
- Not requiring anything further; merely
- (by extension) Used to emphasize the size or extent of something by selecting a subset.
- “[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons?! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
- Not permitting anything further; exclusively.
Usage notes
- Unlike most focusing adverbs, alone typically appears after a noun phrase.
- Only the teacher knew vs. The teacher alone knew
Derived terms
- leave alone
- let alone
- stand-alone
Translations
Anagrams
- Enola, Leano, Leona, NOAEL, anole
Italian
Etymology
From Latin halo.
Noun
alone m (plural aloni)
- halo
- glow
Anagrams
- anelo, anelò
alone From the web:
- what alone means
- what alone cannot kill a tree
- what alone can kill a tree
- what alone can't kill a tree
- what alone won't kill a tree
- what alone won't do it
- what elon musk do
- what do alone mean
merely
English
Etymology
From mere +? -ly.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?m??li/
- (US) IPA(key): /?m??li/
Adverb
merely (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Wholly, entirely. [16th-20th c.]
- (focus) Without any other reason etc.; only, just, and nothing more. [from 16th c.]
Synonyms
- (wholly):
- (without any other reason): See also Thesaurus:merely
Translations
Anagrams
- Lemery, Remley
Middle English
Adverb
merely
- Alternative form of merily
merely From the web:
- what merely mean
- what merely existing meaning
- what's merely in tagalog
- merely meaning arabic
- merely what does that mean
- merely what do it mean
- merely what part of speech
- merely what education makes of him
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