Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell only

What it means: No more than one; single.

In a sentence: He has only one toy car. ▶

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as onley or onli.

Same family: alone, lonely, solely, just, merely. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Only” comes from Old English “ānlic” or “ǽnlic,” related to the word “one,” and originally meant “unique” or “single.” Over time, its meaning shifted so it is now mostly used as an adverb to limit or focus something, like in the phrase “only one.”

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

rose · shoes · those · chose · both · ocean

Spelling.School is a spaced-repetition spelling practice: ten minutes a day, every word spoken aloud, every miss explained, and every word coming back just before you would forget it. Try five words without signing up.