different between only vs meer

English

Alternative forms

• onely (obsolete)
• onlie (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English oonly, onli, onlych, onelich, anely, from Old English ?nl??, ?nl?? (“like; similar; equal”), from Proto-Germanic *ainal?kaz, equivalent to one +? -ly. Cognate with obsolete Dutch eenlijk, German ähnlich (“similar”), Old Norse álíkr, Swedish enlig (“unified”). Regarding the different phonological development of only and one, see the note in one.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???n.li/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /???n.l?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?o?n.li/
• Hyphenation: on?ly

Adjective

only (not comparable)

1. Alone in a category.
2. Singularly superior; the best.
3. Without sibling; without a sibling of the same gender.
   • 1949, Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, Cheaper by the Dozen, dedication:

     To DAD ¶ who only reared twelve children ¶ and ¶ To MOTHER ¶ who reared twelve only children

4. (obsolete) Mere.

Synonyms

• (alone in a category): sole, lone; see also Thesaurus:sole
• (singularly superior): peerless, unequaled, nonpareil

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

only (not comparable)

1. Without others or anything further; exclusively.

2. No more than; just.
   • 1949, Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, Cheaper by the Dozen, dedication:

     To DAD

     who only reared twelve children

     and

     To MOTHER

     who reared twelve only children

3. As recently as.
   • c. 1924-1955, anonymous, The Urantia Book

     Only yesterday did I feed you with bread for your bodies; today I offer you the bread of life for your hungry souls.

5. (Britain) Used to express surprise or consternation at an action.

   She's only gone and run off with the milkman!

7. Introduces a disappointing or surprising outcome that renders futile something previously mentioned.

   They rallied from a three-goal deficit only to lose in the final two minutes of play.

   I helped him out only for him to betray me.
8. (obsolete) Above all others; particularly.
   • 1604, John Marston, Parasitaster, or The Fawn

     his most only elected mistress

Synonyms

• (without others): See also Thesaurus:solely
• (no more than): See also Thesaurus:merely
• (as recently as):
• (above all others):

Derived terms

• if and only if
• only if
• if only
• only to

Translations

Conjunction

only

1. (informal) Under the condition that; but.

   You're welcome to borrow my bicycle, only please take care of it.

2. But; except.

   She would get good results only she gets nervous.

   • 1664 April 22, The Diary of Samuel Pepys:

     […] and pleasant it was, only for the dust.

   • 1931, Dorothy L Sayers, The Five Red Herrings chapter 24:

     […] oot of a' six suspects there's not one that's been proved to ha' been nigh the place where the corpse was found, only Mr Graham.

Related terms

• if only

Translations

Noun

only (plural onlys or onlies)

1. An only child.
   • 2013, Sybil L. Hart, Maria Legerstee, Handbook of Jealousy

     The consistent finding […] that infants who are onlies do not differ from those who have siblings despite their lesser history of exposure to differential treatment is perplexing.

Translations

References

• only at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Lyon, lyon, noyl, ynol

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m??(?)/
• Homophone: mere

Etymology 1

See mere.

Noun

meer (plural meers)

1. A boundary.
2. Obsolete form of mere (a lake).

Etymology 2

Adjective

meer (comparative meerer, superlative meerest)

1. Obsolete form of mere.
   • 1720, John Enty, Truth and Liberty consistent

     For, is this more contrary to Scripture […] than 'tis to say, that our blessed Saviour is a meer Man […]

   • 1742, Isaac Watts, Philosophical Essays on Various Subjects

     And so we may have an ever-growing Idea of infinite Number as well as infinite Space or Emptiness, yet it is a meer Idea, and hath no real Existence without us.

Anagrams

• -mere, Emer., Mere, REME, erme, mere, reem

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch meer, from Middle Dutch m?re, from Old Dutch meri, from Proto-Germanic *mari, from Proto-Indo-European *móri.

Noun

meer (plural mere)

1. lake

Synonyms

• pan

Alemannic German

Etymology

From Old High German m?ro, from Proto-Germanic *maizô. Compare German mehr, Dutch meer, Saterland Frisian moor, English more, Icelandic meira, Swedish mera, Gothic ???????????????????? (maiza).

Adverb

meer

1. (Uri) more

References

• Abegg, Emil, (1911) Die Mundart von Urseren (Beiträge zur Schweizerdeutschen Grammatik. IV.) [The Dialect of Urseren], Frauenfeld, Switzerland: Huber & Co., page 64.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /me?r/, [m??r]
• Hyphenation: meer
• Rhymes: -e?r

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch m?re, from Old Dutch meri, from Proto-Germanic *mari, from Proto-Indo-European *móri.

Noun

meer n (plural meren, diminutive meertje n)

1. lake
2. (obsolete, literary) sea

   Synonym: zee

Derived terms

• binnenmeer
• Haarlemmermeer
• IJsselmeer
• Ketelmeer
• kunstmeer
• kustmeer
• Markermeer
• meerkat
• meerkoet
• meerman
• meermin
• strandmeer
• stuwmeer

Descendants

• Afrikaans: meer

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch mêre, from Old Dutch *m?ro, from Proto-Germanic *maizô.

Determiner

meer

1. comparative degree of veel; more.

Derived terms

• meerder
• meertalig
• meervoud

Related terms

• meest

Etymology 3

From Middle Dutch mêer, from Old Dutch m?r. This form stood alongside the older Middle Dutch mêe, from Old Dutch *m?, from Proto-Germanic *maiz.

Adverb

meer

1. anymore, any longer

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• mëyer, mier (Wiesemann spelling system)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?me??/

Etymology 1

From Middle High German wir, from Old High German wir, from Proto-West Germanic *wi?, from Proto-Germanic *w?z, *wiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wéy-, plural of *é?h?.

Compare German wir, Pennsylvania German mer, Yiddish ???? (mir), English we.

Pronoun

meer

1. we

Inflection

Etymology 2

From Middle High German mir (“me”), from Old High German mir (“me”), from Proto-Germanic *miz (“me”), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)me-, *(e)me-n- (“me”). Cognate with Old English m? (“me”).

Pronoun

meer

1. stressed dative of ich.

Inflection

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Latin

Verb

meer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of me?

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From earlier mêe, modified by analogy with the adjective mêre.

Adverb

mêer

1. Alternative form of mêe

Further reading

• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “meer (IX)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN, page IX