once

See also önce

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English ones (genitive of on (“one”) used adverbally), from Old English ānes (“of one”), genitive of ān (“one”). Compare Old Saxon ēnes (Dutch eens, “once”), Old High German einēst (“once”) (German einst). More at one, -s.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wŭn(t)s, IPA: /wʌn(t)s/, X-SAMPA: /wVn(t)s/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌns
• one and once are pronounced differently from the related words alone, only and atone. Stressed vowels often become diphthongs over time (Latin bona → Italian buona and Spanish buena), and this happened in the late Middle Ages to the words one and once, first recorded ca 1400: the vowel underwent some changes, from ōn → ōōōn → wōn → wōōn → wŏŏn → wŭn.

Adverb

once (not comparable)

1. (frequency) One and only one time.

   I have only once eaten pizza.

2. (temporal location) Formerly; during some period in the past.

   He was once the most handsome man around.

   I once had a bicycle just like that one.

3. (mathematics) multiplied by one: indicating that a number is multiplied by one

   once three is three.

Coordinate terms

• (one time): twice, thrice, often, never, seldom
• (formerly): yesterday, tomorrow

See also

• once again, once more
• once and for all
• once in a blue moon
• once in a while
• once removed
• once upon a time

Translations

one and only one time

• Ancient Greek: ἄπαξ
• Arabic: مرة (ar) (márra), (adverbial) مرةً (ar) (marratan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 一次 (yī cì), 一遍 (cmn) (yī biàn)

• Czech: jednou (cs)
• Danish: en gang (da)
• Dutch: eens (nl), een keer (nl), eenmaal (nl)
• Esperanto: unufoje (eo)
• Finnish: kerran (fi)
• French: une fois
• Georgian: ერთხელ (ka) (ert'xel) 
• German: einmal (de)
• Greek: μια φορά (mia forá)
• Hungarian: egyszer (hu)
• Icelandic: einu sinni (is)
• Italian: una volta
• Japanese: 一度 (ja) (いちど, ichido), 一回 (ja) (いっかい, ikkai), 一遍 (ja) (いっぺん, ippen)
• Korean: 한번 (ko) (hanbeon)

• Latin: semel (la)
• Luxembourgish: eemol (lb)
• Malay: sekali (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: én gang (nb)

• Persian: یک‌بار (fa) (yek-bâr)
• Polish: raz (pl)
• Portuguese: uma vez (pt)
• Romanian: odată (ro)
• Russian: один раз (ru) (odín raz) , однажды (ru) (odnáždy) 
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: јѐдно̄м (sh), једа̀нпӯт (sh)

  Roman: jèdnōm (sh), jedànpūt (sh)

• Slovene: ênkrat (sl)
• Spanish: una vez
• Swedish: en gång (sv)

formerly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 曾經 (cmn), 曾经 (cmn) (céngjīng), 以前 (cmn) (yǐqián), 有一次 (cmn) (yǒu yī cì)

• Czech: kdysi (cs)
• Danish: engang (da)
• Dutch: eens (nl), ooit (nl)
• Esperanto: iama (eo)
• Finnish: kerran, ennen (vanhaan)
• French: une fois, autrefois, jadis
• German: früher (de)
• Greek: άλλοτε (el) (állote), παλιά (el) (paliá)
• Icelandic: einu sinni (is)
• Italian: un tempo (it)

• Japanese: 以前 (ja) (いぜん, izen), かつて (ja) (katsute)
• Malay: dahulu (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: en gang (nb), på et tidspunkt (nb)

  Nynorsk: eingong (nn)

• Polish: wcześniej (pl)
• Portuguese: outrora (pt)
• Russian: когда-то (ru) (kogdá-to) , раньше (ru) (rán'še) , ранее (ru) (ráneje) 
• Scottish Gaelic: uaireigin (gd)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: не̏када (sh), не̏кад при̏је

  Roman: nȅkada (sh), nȅkad prȉje

• Slovene: nekóč (sl), enkràt (sl)
• Spanish: antiguamente (es), anteriormente (es)
• Swedish: tidigare (sv), förut (sv), en gång (sv), för ut (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: iam

• Telugu: ఒకసారి (okasaari), ఒకప్పుడు (okappuDu)

Conjunction

once

1. As soon as; when; after.

   We'll get a move on once we find the damn car keys!

   Once you have obtained the elven bow, return to the troll bridge and trade it for the sleeping potion.

   Once he is married, he will be able to claim the inheritance.

   • 2011 September 27, Alistair Magowan, “Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Man City”, BBC Sport:

     Not only were Jupp Heynckes' team pacey in attack but they were relentless in their pursuit of the ball once they had lost it, and as the game wore on they merely increased their dominance as City wilted in the Allianz Arena.

Translations

as soon as

• Breton: kentre ma (br)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 一旦 (cmn) (yīdàn)

• Danish: så snart (da) (som), bare (da), når først (da)
• Dutch: zodra (nl)
• Finnish: kunhan (fi)
• French: aussitôt que (fr), dès que (fr), une fois (fr)
• Georgian: როგორც კი (ka) (rogorc’ ki)
• German: als (de), sobald (de)

• Greek: μόλις (el) (mólis)
• Irish: ó (ga)
• Italian: una volta che, non appena
• Malay: sebaik sahaja (ms)
• Norwegian: så snart (no), med det første (no)

  Bokmål: bare (nb)

  Nynorsk: berre (nn)

• Portuguese: tão logo
• Russian: как только (kak tól’ko)
• Spanish: tan pronto como, una vez que (es)
• Swedish: så snart som (sv)

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: God · three · put · #166: once · new · years · always

Anagrams

• cone
• econ

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Aragonese

Numeral

once

1. (cardinal) eleven

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Asturian

Asturian cardinal numbers

<  10	11	12  >
Cardinal : once     Ordinal : decimoprimeru

Etymology

From Latin ūndecim.

Numeral

once (indeclinable)

1. (cardinal) eleven

Derived terms

• oncenu

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Latin uncia

Noun

once f (plural onces)

1. ounce (avoirdupois ounce)
2. (figuratively, by extension) a little bit

Etymology 2

From Old French lonce which become l'once (la + once), itself from Vulgar Latin *luncea < Latin lynx, ultimately from Ancient Greek λύγξ, or possibly borrowed from Italian lonza.

Noun

once f (plural onces)

1. snow leopard

Anagrams

• cône
• noce

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Galician

Galician cardinal numbers

<  10	11	12  >
Cardinal : once     Ordinal : undécimo

Etymology

From Latin ūndecim.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Numeral

once (indeclinable)

1. (cardinal) eleven

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Italian

Noun

once f pl

1. Plural form of oncia

Anagrams

• ceno , cenò
• noce

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Spanish

Spanish cardinal numbers

<  10	11	12  >
Cardinal : once     Ordinal : undécimo

Pronunciation

• (Dialects with z merged to s) IPA: /ˈon.se/, X-SAMPA: /"on.se/
• (Dialects with z/s distinction, Dialects with s merged to z) IPA: /ˈon.θe/, X-SAMPA: /"on.Te/

Etymology 1

From Latin ūndecim, from unus "one" + decem "ten"

Cardinal number

once

1. (cardinal) eleven

Etymology 2

Snacks were typically taken at 11 am.

Noun

once f (plural onces)

1. (Latin America) snack (bread with tea or coffee).

Related terms

• onceno
• onces