One (wun) , adjective
[Old English one, on, an, Anglo-Saxon ān; akin to Dutch een, Old Saxon ēn, OFries. ēn, ān, German ein, Danish een, Swedish en, Icelandic einn, Gothic ains, Welsh un, Ir. & Gael. aon, Latin unus, earlier oinos, oenos, Greek o'i`nh the ace on dice; compare Sanskrit ēka. The same word as the indefinite article a, an. r 299. Compare 2d A, 1st An, Alone, Anon, Any, None, Nonce, Only, Onion, Unit.]
1.
Being a single unit, or entire being or thing, and no more; not multifold; single; individual.
The dream of Pharaoh is one. — Gen. xli. 25
O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England. — Shakespeare
2.
Denoting a person or thing conceived or spoken of indefinitely; a certain. “I am the sister of one Claudio” [Shak.], that is, of a certain man named Claudio.
3.
Pointing out a contrast, or denoting a particular thing or person different from some other specified; -- used as a correlative adjective, with or without
the.
From the one side of heaven unto the other. — Deut. iv. 32
4.
Closely bound together; undivided; united; constituting a whole.
The church is therefore one, though the members may be many. — Bp. Pearson
5.
Single in kind; the same; a common.
One plague was on you all, and on your lords. — 1 Sam. vi. 4
6.
Single; unmarried.
[Obsolete] Men may counsel a woman to be one. — Chaucer
One day when Phoebe fair,
With all her band, was following the chase. — Spenser
Well, I will marry one day. — Shakespeare
One is often used in forming compound words, the meaning of which is obvious; as, one-armed, one-celled, one-eyed, one-handed, one-hearted, one-horned, one-idead, one-leaved, one-masted, one-ribbed, one-story, one-syllable, one-stringed, one-winged, etc.