Etymology Dictionary

ONE (1),  single, undivided, sole.  (E.)   [The mod. pronunciation [wun] seems to have arisen in the W. of England; it is noticed by Jones, in 1701, as in use 'in Shropshire and some parts of Wales;' Ellis, On Early Eng. Pronunciation, p. 1012.   It does not appear to be older in literature than about A. D. 1500; I believe the spelling won occurs in the Works of Tyndal (a Gloucestershire man), but I have lost the reference.   At any rate, the M. E. pronunciation was like that of -one in stone, bone, and is still preserved in al-one, at-one, on-ly; we never say wunly.   We do, however, say wuns (with sharp s) for once.]   M. E. oon, on; also oo, o; dative oone, one; Chaucer, C. T. 343, 365, 381, 749, &c.—A. S. án, one; Grein, i. 29. + Du. een. + Icel. einn. + Dan. een. + Swed. en. + G. ein. + Goth. ains. + W. un. + Irish and Gael. aon. + Lat. unus; O. Lat. oinos. + Gk. οἰνός, one.   β. 'The stem AI-NA for one is proved to be a common European form.   The Skt. éka-s, the Zend aé-va [cf. Gk. οἶος] are other extensions of the same base AI;' Curtius, i. 399.   γ. The base AI appears to be a strengthened form from I, a pronominal base of the 3rd person, appearing in Skt. i-dam, this.   Der. one-sided, one-sided-ness; one-ness; and see on-ce, on-ly, al-one, l-one, at-one; un-ique, un-ite, un-ion, un-animous, uni-son, uni-versal, on-ion; also n-one, n-on-ce, an-on ( = in one), an-other.   Doublet, an or a.   ➩ The Gk. εἶς, one (base hεν) cannot be fairly referred to the same source, but appears to be related to E. same; see Ace. [†]

ONE (2),  a person, spoken of indefinitely.  (E.)   In the phrase 'one says,' the one means a single person.   Cf. 'One that moche wo wrouȝte, Sleuthe was his name' = one who wrought much wo, whose name was Sloth; P. Plowman, B. xx. 157.   See Mätzner, Engl. Grammatik.   'The indefinite one, as in one says, is sometimes, but wrongly, derived from the F. on, Lat. homo.   It is merely the use of the numeral one for the older man, men, or me;' Morris, Hist. Outlines of Eng. Accidence, p. 143; which see for examples.   The false explanation, that one stands for F. on, seems hard to kill; but the more Middle-English is studied, the sooner it will be disbelieved.