Etymology : Middle English, from al all + one one
Pronunciation : &-lOn
Function : adjective
Date : 13th century
1. only; separate, isolated; unique. adunaccompanied, by oneself. alone\a*lone"\, adv. solely; simply; exclusively.alone \a*lone"\ , a. [all + one. oe. al one all allone, as. ān one, alone. see:
all, one, lone.].
2. quite by one's self; apart from, or exclusive of, others; single; solitary; -- applied to a person or thing. alone on a wide, wide sea. it is not good that the man should be alone. ii.
3. 2. of or by itself; by themselves; without any thing more or any one else; without a sharer; only. man shall not live by bread alone. v.
4. the citizens alone should be at the expense.
5. sole; only; exclusive. [r.] god, by whose alone power and conversation we all live, and move, and have our being.
6. hence; unique; rare; matchless.note: the adjective alone commonly follows its noun.
7. Quite by one's self; apart from, or exclusive of, others; single; solitary; applied to a person or thing.
8. Of or by itself; by themselves; without any thing more or any one else; without a sharer; only.
9. Sole; only; exclusive.
10. Hence; Unique; rare; matchless.
11. Solely; simply; exclusively. without anybody else; "the child stayed home alone"; "he flew solo".
12. 1. When you are alone, you are not with any other people. There is nothing so fearful as to be alone in a combat situation He was all alone in the middle of the hall. Alone is also an adverb. She has lived alone in this house for almost five years now.
13. If one person is alone with another person, or if two or more people are alone, they are together, without anyone else present. I couldn't imagine why he would want to be alone with me My brother and I were alone with Vincent.
14. If you say that you are alone or feel alone, you mean that nobody who is with you, or nobody at all, cares about you. Never in her life had she felt so alone, so abandoned.
15. emphasis You say that one person or thing alone does something when you are emphasizing that only one person or thing is involved. You alone should determine what is right for you They were convicted on forensic evidence alone.
16. emphasis If you say that one person or thing alone is responsible for part of an amount, you are emphasizing the size of that part and the size of the total amount. The BBC alone is sending 300 technicians, directors and commentators.
17. If someone is alone in doing something, they are the only person doing it, and so are different from other people. Am I alone in thinking that this scandal should finish his career? = unique Alone is also an adverb. I alone was sane, I thought, in a world of crazy people.
18. When someone does something alone, they do it without help from other people. Bringing up a child alone should give you a sense of achievement.
19. If you go it alone, you do something without any help from other people. I missed the stimulation of working with others when I tried to go it alone.
20. to leave someone or something alone: see:
leave let alone: see let.