Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Being apart from others; solitary.
- adjective Being without anyone or anything else; only.
- adjective Considered separately from all others of the same class.
- adjective Being without equal; unique.
- adverb Without others.
- adverb Without help.
- adverb Exclusively; only.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Apart from another or others; single or singly; solitary or solitarily; without the aid or company of another: applied to a person or thing: as, to be or remain alone; to walk alone.
- Only; to the exclusion of other persons or things; sole or solely: as, he alone remained.
- Without a parallel; above or beyond all others; unique.
- Devoid; destitute.
- In each of these examples only would now be considered better, though not alone for not only is in common use. Alone means unaccompanied: as, he stood alone. Only applies to that of which there is no other: as, an only son; adverbially, only this.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb Solely; simply; exclusively.
- adjective Quite by one's self; apart from, or exclusive of, others; single; solitary; -- applied to a person or thing.
- adjective Of or by itself; by themselves; without any thing more or any one else; without a sharer; only.
- adjective rare Sole; only; exclusive.
- adjective Hence; Unique; rare; matchless.
- adjective to abstain from interfering with or molesting; to suffer to remain in its present state.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective By one's self,
solitary . - adjective Apart from, or exclusive of, others.
- adjective Considered separately.
- adjective Without equal.
- adverb By one's self; apart from, or exclusive of, others; solo
- adverb Without outside help.
- adverb
Exclusively .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb without anybody else or anything else
- adverb without any others being included or involved
- adjective exclusive of anyone or anything else
- adjective lacking companions or companionship
- adjective radically distinctive and without equal
- adjective isolated from others
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Granting _alleyn_ to be rightly put for alone, no ancient writer, I apprehend, ever used such a phrase as this; any more than we should now say -- _my son alone_ for _my only son_.
The Rowley Poems Thomas Chatterton
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We know that we must fight the battle of life and duty alone, we know that we bear our sorrows and bereavements alone, we know that alone we must die, and be judged, and yet, as Christians, we know that Jesus will never leave us, nor forsake us, that He is with us even unto the end of the world, and that when most solitary we are _alone with God_.
The Life of Duty, v. 2 A year's plain sermons on the Gospels or Epistles H. J. Wilmot-Buxton
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_Never less alone than when alone_ is a true maxim; but not for travelling; a pleasant companion adds a hundredfold to the pleasures of the journey, especially when the friendship is strong enough to stand the occasional strains on the temper which must occur along wild untrodden paths.
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Thou art here alone, none knowing, and I-- I _alone_ can save thee.
Leonie of the Jungle Joan Conquest
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And then -- Ah, there is something terrible in being alone -- _alone_!
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But the fact of your being here, before me, alone, do you understand, _alone_ in the presence of Arsène
The Blonde Lady Being a Record of the Duel of Wits between Arsène Lupin and the English Detective Maurice Leblanc 1902
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I was alone in my bedroom, _and yet I was not alone_!
Possessed Cleveland Moffett 1894
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Alas! alas! almost alone, except a few -- to their everlasting honor -- poor faithful women -- _alone!
Godliness : being reports of a series of addresses delivered at James's Hall, London, W. during 1881 Catherine Mumford Booth 1859
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Alas! alas! almost alone, except a few -- to their everlasting honor -- poor faithful women -- _alone!
Godliness : being reports of a series of addresses delivered at James's Hall, London, W. during 1881 Catherine Mumford Booth 1859
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Alas! alas! almost alone, except a few -- to their everlasting honor -- poor faithful women -- _alone!
Godliness : being reports of a series of addresses delivered at James's Hall, London, W. during 1881 Catherine Mumford Booth 1859
oroboros commented on the word alone
aLONE. lONE
April 26, 2008
tbtabby commented on the word alone
Means "halo" in Italian.
July 13, 2009
oroboros commented on the word alone
Al - O - Ne (aluminum, oxygen, neon)
February 2, 2013