# one

> English word · Numeral · IPA /wʌn/ · frequency rank #38

## Definitions
1. The number represented by the Arabic numeral 1; the numerical value equal to that cardinal number.
2. The first positive number in the set of natural numbers.
3. The cardinality of the smallest nonempty set.
4. The ordinality of an element which has no predecessor, usually called first or number one.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *h₁óynos
From Middle English oon, on, oan, an, from Old English ān (“one”), from Proto-West Germanic *ain, from Proto-Germanic *ainaz (“one”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos (“single, one”). Doublet of an.
Cognate with Scots ae, ane, wan, yin (“one”); North Frisian ån (“one”); Saterland Frisian aan (“one”); West Frisian ien (“one”); Dutch een, één (“one”); German Low German een; German ein, eins (“one”); Danish en (“one”); Swedish en (“one”); Norwegian Nynorsk ein (“one”), Icelandic einn (“one”); Latin ūnus (“one”) (Old Latin oinos); Russian оди́н (odín), Spanish uno. Doublet of a, an, and Uno. False cognate of Malayalam ഒന്ന് (onnŭ), Tamil ஒன்னு (oṉṉu), ஒண்ணு (oṇṇu), ஒன்று (oṉṟu).
The use as an indefinite personal pronoun may have been influenced by unrelated French on, although the Germanic languages widely use cognates for the same sense (usually in non-subject function, but also in subject function, e.g. Luxembourgish een).
Verb form from Middle English onen.

## Easily confused with
- **or** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-or)
- **op** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-op)
- **OS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-os)
- **oz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-oz)
- **OT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-ot)
- **ou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-ou)
- **ow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-ow)
- **oo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-oo)
- **ox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-ox)
- **oy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-oy)
- **ov** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-ov)
- **out** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-out)
- **our** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-our)
- **own** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-own)
- **owe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-owe)
- **ore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-ore)
- **opt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-opt)
- **owl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-owl)
- **ops** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-ops)
- **ooh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-ooh)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/one