only
adj.adj. the single one of its kind or the only one in a group. You use this to show there are no others like it in a specific situation.
adj. being the single representative of a category or the sole instance in a particular context. Attributive in use; it almost exclusively precedes the noun it modifies.
She is the only person in the room.
Being an only child often means receiving more individual attention from parents during early development.
The only surviving manuscript of the poem provides invaluable insight into the linguistic shifts occurring during the late medieval period.
From Middle English oonly, only, from Old English ānlīċ, ǣnlīċ (“only; singular; solitary”), from Proto-Germanic *ainalīkaz. Cognate with obsolete Dutch eenlijk, German ähnlich (“similar”), Old Norse álíkr, Swedish enlig (“unified”). By surface analysis, on(e) + -ly. * Regarding the different phonological development of only and one, see the note in one.
The adjective is almost always used attributively, meaning it sits before the noun. It is frequently preceded by the definite article 'the' or a possessive pronoun.
She is the person only here.She is the only person here.As an adjective, 'only' must be placed before the noun it describes, not after it.