once

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 (“once”), Old High German einēst (“once”) (German einst). More at one, -s.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wŭn(t)s, IPA^(key): /wʌn(t)s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wʌns/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /wʌns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌns

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.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175, page 071:

     Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill. Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft.

   • 1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick:

     The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.

   • 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:

     Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.

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

   Once three is three.

4. As soon as.
   • 2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6:

     In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.

5. (obsolete) At a future time.
   • Bishop Joseph Hall, Contemplations.

     The wisdom of God thought fit to acquaint David with that court which we shall once govern.

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”, in 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.

Anagrams

• Coen, Cone, Econ., Noce, ceno-, coen-, cone, cœn-, econ

Etymology

From Latin ūndecim.

Numeral

once

1. (cardinal) eleven

Etymology

From Latin ūndecim.

Numeral

once (indeclinable)

1. (cardinal) eleven

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ̃s/

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Latin uncia.

Etymology 2

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

Anagrams

• cône, noce

Further reading

• “once” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Etymology

From Latin uncia.

Noun

once f (plural oncis)

1. ounce

Etymology

From Old Portuguese onze, from Latin ūndecim.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Numeral

once (indeclinable)

1. (cardinal) eleven

Noun

once f

1. plural of oncia

Anagrams

• ceno, cenò, noce

Alternative forms

• onze (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Castilian) IPA^(key): /ˈonθe/, [ˈõn̟θe]
• (Latin America) IPA^(key): /ˈonse/, [ˈõnse]

Etymology 1

From Old Spanish onze, ondze, from Latin ūndecim.

Etymology 2

Snacks were typically taken at 11 am.

Related terms

• onceno
• onces

Further reading

• “once” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.