What is "all one"

One \One\ (w[u^]n), a. [OE. one, on, an, AS. [=a]n; akin to D. een, OS. [=e]n, OFries. [=e]n, [=a]n, G. ein, Dan. een, Sw. en, Icel. einn, Goth. ains, W. un, Ir. & Gael. aon, L. unus, earlier oinos, oenos, Gr. o'i`nh the ace on dice; cf. Skr. 299. Cf. 2d A, 1st An, Alone, Anon, Any, None, Nonce, Only, Onion, Unit.]

1. Being a single unit, or entire being or thing, and no more; not multifold; single; individual.

   The dream of Pharaoh is one.
   --Gen. xli. 25.

   O that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England.
   --Shak.

2. Denoting a person or thing conceived or spoken of indefinitely; a certain. ``I am the sister of one Claudio'' [
   --Shak.], that is, of a certain man named Claudio.

3. Pointing out a contrast, or denoting a particular thing or person different from some other specified; -- used as a correlative adjective, with or without the.

   From the one side of heaven unto the other.
   --Deut. iv. 32.

4. Closely bound together; undivided; united; constituting a whole.

   The church is therefore one, though the members may be many.
   --Bp. Pearson

5. Single in kind; the same; a common.

   One plague was on you all, and on your lords.
   --1 Sam. vi. 4.

6. Single; unmarried. [Obs.] Men may counsel a woman to be one. --Chaucer. Note: One is often used in forming compound words, the meaning of which is obvious; as, one-armed, one-celled, one-eyed, one-handed, one-hearted, one-horned, one-idead, one-leaved, one-masted, one-ribbed, one-story, one-syllable, one-stringed, one-winged, etc. All one, of the same or equal nature, or consequence; all the same; as, he says that it is all one what course you take. --Shak. One day.

   1. On a certain day, not definitely specified, referring to time past.

      One day when Phoebe fair, With all her band, was following the chase.
      --Spenser.

   2. Referring to future time: At some uncertain day or period in the future; some day.

      Well, I will marry one day.
      --Shak.

All \All\, adv.

1. Wholly; completely; altogether; entirely; quite; very; as, all bedewed; my friend is all for amusement. ``And cheeks all pale.''
   --Byron.

   Note: In the ancient phrases, all too dear, all too much, all so long, etc., this word retains its appropriate sense or becomes intensive.

2. Even; just. (Often a mere intensive adjunct.) [Obs. or Poet.] All as his straying flock he fed. --Spenser. A damsel lay deploring All on a rock reclined. --Gay. All to, or All-to. In such phrases as ``all to rent,'' ``all to break,'' ``all-to frozen,'' etc., which are of frequent occurrence in our old authors, the all and the to have commonly been regarded as forming a compound adverb, equivalent in meaning to entirely, completely, altogether. But the sense of entireness lies wholly in the word all (as it does in ``all forlorn,'' and similar expressions), and the to properly belongs to the following word, being a kind of intensive prefix (orig. meaning asunder and answering to the LG. ter-, HG. zer-). It is frequently to be met with in old books, used without the all. Thus Wyclif says, ``The vail of the temple was to rent:'' and of Judas, ``He was hanged and to-burst the middle:'' i. e., burst in two, or asunder. All along. See under Along. All and some, individually and collectively, one and all. [Obs.] ``Displeased all and some.'' --Fairfax. All but.

   1. Scarcely; not even. [Obs.]
      --Shak.

   2. Almost; nearly. ``The fine arts were all but proscribed.''
      --Macaulay.

      All hollow, entirely, completely; as, to beat any one all hollow. [Low]

      All one, the same thing in effect; that is, wholly the same thing.

      All over, over the whole extent; thoroughly; wholly; as, she is her mother all over. [Colloq.]

      All the better, wholly the better; that is, better by the whole difference.

      All the same, nevertheless. ``There they [certain phenomena] remain rooted all the same, whether we recognize them or not.''
      --J. C. Shairp. ``But Rugby is a very nice place all the same.''
      --T. Arnold. -- See also under All, n.

n. A matter of indifference; a matter having no importance or consequence.