Once vs Until - What's the difference?
once | until |
(lb) One and only one time.
:
(lb) Formerly; during some period in the past.
:
*
*:Orion hit a rabbit once ; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill. Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft.
*{{quote-book, year=1944, author=(w)
, title= *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)
, volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (lb) Multiplied by one: indicating that a number is multiplied by one.
:
As soon as.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=
, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= As soon as; when; after.
* {{quote-news, year=2011
, date=September 27
, author=Alistair Magowan
, title=Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Man City
, work=BBC Sport
Up to the time of (something happening).
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
, volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Before (a time).
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1
, passage=I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.}}
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=
, volume=189, issue=2, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (obsolete) To; physically towards.
* Spenser
Up to the time that (a condition becomes true).
*
*:It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street.. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
, volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Before (a condition becoming true).
*
*:It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the screw begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.
As conjunctions the difference between once and until
is that once is as soon as; when; after while until is up to the time that (a condition becomes true).As an adverb once
is one and only one time.As a preposition until is
up to the time of (something happening).once
English
(wikipedia once)Adverb
(-)The Three Corpse Trick, chapter=5 , passage=The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.}}
Obama's once hip brand is now tainted, passage=Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.}}
Ed Pilkington
‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told, passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
Coordinate terms
* (one time) twice, thrice, often, never, seldom * (formerly) yesterday, tomorrowSee also
* once again, once more * once and for all * once in a blue moon * once in a while * once removed * once upon a timeConjunction
(English Conjunctions)- We'll get a move on once we find the damn car keys!
- Once you have obtained the elven bow, return to the troll bridge and trade it for the sleeping potion.
- Once he is married, he will be able to claim the inheritance.
citation, page= , passage=Not only were Jupp Heynckes' team pacey in attack but they were relentless in their pursuit of the ball once they had lost it, and as the game wore on they merely increased their dominance as City wilted in the Allianz Arena.}}
Statistics
*until
English
Preposition
(English prepositions)Our banks are out of control, passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.}}
Chico Harlan
Japan pockets the subsidy …, passage=Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion."}}
- He roused himself full blithe, and hastened them until .
Usage notes
It is typically assumed that circumstances have changed or could change at the referenced time. For instance, “All has gone well until now” implies that the current situation may not be so good.Synonyms
* 'til (nonstandard), till, up toAntonyms
* sinceConjunction
(English Conjunctions)Finland spreads word on schools, passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}
