only

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
only/ˈəʊnli/

▶adverb

• 1 and no one or nothing more besides.

  ■ no longer ago than.

  ■ not until.

• 2 with the negative or unfortunate result that.

▶adjective alone of its or their kind; single or solitary.

■ alone deserving consideration.

▶conjunction informal except that.

– phrases
only just

• 1 by a very small margin.

• 2 very recently.

only too —— to an extreme or regrettable extent.

– origin OE ānlic (see one, -ly1).

usage: The traditional view is that, to avoid ambiguity, you should place the adverb only next to the word or words whose meaning it restricts: I have seen him only once rather than I have only seen him once. In practice, people tend to state only as early as possible in the sentence, generally just before the verb, and the result is rarely ambiguous.