loner

See also: löner

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *h₂elnós

Proto-Germanic *allaz

Proto-West Germanic *all

Old English eall

Proto-Indo-European *ís?

Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos

Proto-Germanic *ainaz

Proto-West Germanic *ain

Old English ān

Old English eall ān

Middle English all oon

Middle English allone

English alone

English lone

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-os?

Proto-Indo-European *-o-

Proto-Indo-European *-so-

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-āsijos

Proto-Italic *-āsios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

▲

Latin -ārius

Old French -ierbor.

Middle English -er

English -er

English loner

From lone + -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈləʊ.nə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈloʊ.nəɹ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊnə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: lon‧er
• Homophone: loaner

Noun

loner (plural loners)

1. One who is alone, lacking or avoiding the company of others.

   Synonyms: solitary; see also Thesaurus:recluse

   Coordinate terms: aloner, misanthrope

   I actually enjoy being a loner.

   • 1985, J. C. Winters, Berlin Fugle, page 307:

     For one thing, he wanted to see if anyone was following Ricketts. The Cockney had been thrown out of SAS because he was a loner and a canteen cowboy.

   • 2013, Margaux Joy DeNador, The Art of Living a Life You Love, page 158:

     I remember reading an article that described three personality types – socializers, loners, and aloners.

   • 2018, Judy Hall, The Astrology Bible:

     An unaspected planet bides its time and then emerges, often explosively and seemingly out of character. These potent loners are a hidden influence within the chart.

Derived terms

• lonerish

Translations

one who lacks or avoids company

• Chichewa: mkhalayekha class 1
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 邊緣人 / 边缘人 (zh) (biānyuánrén)

• Czech: samotář m
• Danish: enspænder
• Dutch: eenling (nl) m, eenzaat (nl) m
• Finnish: yksineläjä (fi), erakko (fi), yksinäinen susi
• French: solitaire (fr) m or f
• Galician: can sen dono m
• German: Einzelgänger (de) m, Eigenbrötler (de) m (pejorative), Einzelkämpfer (de) m
• Greek: ερημίτης (el) m (erimítis)
• Icelandic: einfari (is) m
• Italian: eremita (it) m, solitario (it) m
• Japanese: ぼっち (ja) (botchi) (slang)
• Korean: 외돌토리 (ko) (oedoltori), 외톨박이 (ko) (oetolbagi), 외톨이 (ko) (oetori), 아싸 (ko) (assa) (slang)
• Macedonian: оса́меник m (osámenik), самотник m (samotnik)
• Malay: penyendiri
• Norwegian: einstøing m
• Old English: āngenġa m
• Polish: samotnik (pl) m
• Portuguese: solitário (pt), bicho do mato (pt)
• Russian: одино́чка (ru) m or f (odinóčka), бирю́к (ru) m (birjúk)
• Scottish Gaelic: aonaran m
• Serbo-Croatian: samotnjak (sh) m, usamljenik (sh) m
• Spanish: solitario (es) m, huraño (es) m
• Swedish: ensamvarg (sv) c, särling (sv) c, enstöring (sv) c
• Turkish: yalnız (tr), soliter
• Ukrainian: одина́к (uk) m (odynák), самі́тник m (samítnyk)

Further reading

• “loner”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “loner”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Elron, Loren, Rolen, enrol, nerol