Once

//wʌn(t)s// adv, conj, noun, slang

adv, conj, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Obsolete form of ounce. alt-of, obsolete
  2. 2
    A fan of the Korean girl band Twice. slang
Adverb
  1. 1
    One and only one time. not-comparable

    "I have only once eaten pizza."

  2. 2
    Formerly; during some period in the past. not-comparable

    "He was once the most handsome man around."

  3. 3
    At any time; ever. not-comparable, obsolete

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

  4. 4
    One day, someday. not-comparable, obsolete
  5. 5
    Multiplied by one: indicating that a number is multiplied by one. not-comparable

    "Once three is three."

Adverb
  1. 1
    on one occasion wordnet
  2. 2
    at a previous time wordnet
  3. 3
    as soon as wordnet
Conjunction
  1. 1
    As soon as; when; after.

    "Near-synonym: immediately"

Synonyms

All synonyms
at one timeone timealonealreadyancientanytime

Example

More examples

"I once wanted to be an astrophysicist."

Etymology

From Middle English ones, from Old English ānes, a remodelling (after ān (“one”)) of ǣnes, itself an extension of ǣne (“once”) with the genitive suffix -es. Compare Old Saxon ēnes (“once”), Old High German eines, einēst (“once”), modern German einst (“once”). More at one (including regarding the development of the pronunciation) and -s.

Related phrases

Christmas comes but once a yearOnce Breweddon't spend it all at oncefool me oncefor this onceonce a man, twice a boyonce a man, twice a childonce a woman, twice a childonce on a timeonce-in-a-generationonce-in-a-lifetimeonce-off

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.