ony

See also: -ony and -öny

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech ony, from Proto-Slavic *ony. Cognate to Polish one.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈonɪ]

Pronoun

ony m inan pl or f pl

1. they (third person personal nonvirile plural)

Declension

Declension of ony (pl-only pronoun)

	plural
nominative	ony
genitive	jich, nich1
dative	jim, nim1
accusative	je, ně1
vocative	—
locative	nich1
instrumental	jimi, nimi1

¹After a preposition.

Related terms

Czech personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		já	my
2nd person	familiar	ty	vy
	polite	vy
3rd person	m	on	oni*
	f	ona	ony
	n	ono	ona
reflexive		sebe, se (clitic)
* animate referents only, for inanimate ones ony is used.

See also

• (masculine animate plural): oni
• (neuter plural): ona

Pronoun

ony

1. inflection of onen:
   1. accusative animate masculine plural
   2. nominative/accusative inanimate masculine plural
   3. nominative/accusative feminine plural

Further reading

• “ony”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “ony”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “ony”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Malagasy

Noun

ony

1. river

Middle English

Determiner

ony

1. Alternative form of ani
   • 1470–1483 (date produced), Thom̃s Malleorre [i.e., Thomas Malory], “[The Tale of King Arthur]”, in Le Morte Darthur (British Library Additional Manuscript 59678), [England: s.n.], folio 35, recto, lines 10–11:

     Now is þ[er] ony ſeyde Marlyon that ye love more than a noþ[er] ·

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Old Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ony.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈonɨ/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈoni/

Pronoun

ony f pl (third person)

1. they (feminine plural)
2. (later) they (masculine inanimate plural)

Declension

Declension of the third-person pronouns (around AD 1300)

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	on	ona	ono
Genitive	jeho, (j)ho, ň(e)ho	jie, nie	jeho, (j)ho, ň(e)ho
Dative	jemu, (j)mu, ňemu	jí, jiej, ní, niej	jemu, (j)mu, ňemu
Accusative	jej, jen, ji, jeho, (j)ho -ň, ňej, ňen, ni, ň(e)ho	ju, ňu	je, ňe + later masculine
Locative	ňem	ní, niej	ňem
Instrumental	jím, ním	jú, ňú	jím, ním
Possessive	jeho	(je)jie, jejílater	jeho
Dual	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ona	oně
Genitive	jú, ňú
Dative	jima, nima
Accusative	jě, ně	ji, ni
Locative	ňú
Instrumental	jima, nima
Possessive	(je)jú
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	oni	ony	ona
Genitive	jich, nich
Dative	jim, nim
Accusative	jě, ně
Locative	nich
Instrumental	jimi, nimi
Possessive	(je)jich

Descendants

• Czech: ony

Pronoun

ony

1. nominative/accusative feminine plural of onen

Polish

Etymology

Coined in 2004 by science fiction and fantasy writer Jacek Dukaj, in his book titled Perfect Imperfection. Comparable to Polish oni.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.nɘ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔnɘ
• Syllabification: o‧ny

Pronoun

ony (singular: onu)

1. they (nonstandard, third-person plural nominative, non-binary pronoun)

Declension

Declension of ony

	plural
nominative	ony
genitive	ich/nich
dative	im
accusative	ni
instrumental	nimi
locative	nich
vocative	—

Related terms

• on
• ona
• one
• oni
• ono
• Appendix:Polish pronouns

Further reading

• ony in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• ony in zaimki.pl

Scots

Adverb

ony (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of onie

Determiner

ony

1. Alternative form of onie

References

• “ony”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɔni]

Pronoun

ony

1. masculine/feminine/neuter nominative plural of on (“they”)

Declension

Declension of ony

	plurale tantum
nominative	ony
genitive	ich / nich
dative	im / nim
accusative	ich / ne
locative	nich
instrumental	nimi

Related terms

Slovak personal pronouns

		substantive		possessive
		singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person		ja	my	môj	náš
2nd person	familiar	ty	vy	tvoj	váš
	polite	vy		váš
3rd person	m	on	oni* / ony	jeho	ich
	f	ona		jej
	n	ono		jeho
reflexive		seba, sa (clitic)		svoj
* masculine animate only, ony otherwise.

Further reading

• “ony”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025