Only

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Translation

French. uniquement, seulement, ne... que...

Interaction with the subordinating conjunction if:

only if = seulement si, if only = si seulement

Very often best translated with "ne... que"

It's only for a couple hours. / She was only gone a few minutes. Ce n'est que pour quelques heures. / Elle n'était partie que quelques minutes.

Etymology

only
O.E. ænlic, anlic "only, unique, solitary," lit. "one-like," from an "one" (see one) + -lic "-like" (see -ly (1)). Use as an adverb and conjunction developed in Middle English. Distinction of only and alone (now usually in reference to emotional states) is unusual; in many languages the same word serves for both. German also has a distinction in allein/einzig. Phrase only-begotten (mid-15c.) is biblical, translating L. unigenitus, Gk. monogenes. The Old English form was ancenned.