one-timeadj.
/ˈwʌntʌɪm/, U.S. /ˈwənˈtaɪm/ 1. That was so at one time; former.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [adjective]
ererc888
fernOE
oldOE
oldOE
formerc1160
ratherc1330
before-goingc1384
formerc1384
forenexta1400
formea1400
while1399
antecedentc1400
precedentc1400
anteceding?a1425
late1446
whilom1452
preceding?a1475
forne1485
fore1490
heretofore1491
foregoing1530
toforegoing1532
further1557
firster1571
then1584
elder1594
quondam1598
forehand1600
previant1601
preallable1603
prior1607
anterior1608
previal1613
once1620
previous1621
predecessivea1627
antecedaneous?1631
preventive1641
prior1641
precedaneous1645
preventional1649
antegredient1652
senior1655
prevenient1656
precedential1661
antecedental1763
past-gone1784
antevenient1800
aforetime1835
one-time1850
onewhile1882
foretime1894
erstwhile1903
antecedane-
ere-
1850 W. Howitt Year-bk. of Country vi. 179 Old Lodge, we salute thee for thy venerable antiquity; but we owe thee no respect as the one-time resort of the boasted virgin queen!
1897 Westm. Gaz. 24 June 2/2 Prime Minister of the one-time dependency of Van Diemen's Land.
1924 Time 7 Jan. 30/2 Died. Richard Wittig, brother of Maximillian Harden, famed German publicist, onetime friend of the Kaiser, onetime Oberburgomaster of Posen.
1967 Listener 2 Feb. 157/1 S. W. Johnson-Marshall, one-time chief architect at the Ministry of Education.
2000 Daily Tel. 27 Dec. 31/1 It is hard to expect other former officers to abide by self-censorship when their one-time chief decides to ignore.
2. Relating to a single occasion; done or used only once; = one-shot adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adjective] > one-off or that cannot be repeated
once1548
uniterable1606
sporadical1654
sporadic1821
one-time1928
1928 Flynn's Weekly 4 Feb. 436/1 Big Bill Douglas was enjoying a year's vacation from his usual haunts up at Sing Sing at the expense of the State. To his underworld associates he was doing a short bit in the Big House, or a one time loser.
1973 N.Y. Law Jrnl. 27 Mar. 4/5 The tenant insisted that the only increase he was obliged to pay was a one-time increase.
2002 Cigar Aficionado Jan. 108/1 Remember, you still have to pay for that programming guide—it's $9.95 monthly or a one-time $249 for the life of the unit.
Compounds
one-time cipher n. a cipher in which the cipher representation of the alphabet is changed at random for each letter of the message, generating a key as long as the message.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > code, cipher > [noun] > particular codes
character1605
needle-alphabet1663
unicode1886
rail fence1916
Vigenère1916
Playfair1918
Playfair1932
one-time system1955
speech code1973
one-time cipher1977
1977 Sci. Amer. Aug. 120/3 It is easy to see why the one-time cipher is uncrackable even in principle. Since each symbol can be represented by any other symbol, and each choice of representation is completely random, there is no internal pattern.
1995 Guardian (Nexis) 15 July 3 The Russians' shortage of highly secure one-time cypher pads allowed the US and Britain to decode messages sent by KGB agents.
one-time pad n. a pad of keys for a one-time cipher, each page of which is destroyed after being used once, so that each message is sent using a different key; (also) a similar pad generated by computer software for single-use cryptography.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > code, cipher > [noun] > conversion into code > device > component of
rotor1934
one-time pad1953
indicator1961
1953 N.Y. Times Mag. 15 Mar. 62/2 The Russians are notorious for their reliance on a device known as the ‘one-time-pad’. This means..that each message is sent in a completely different code.
1977 Sci. Amer. Aug. 120/3 If the one-time pad provides absolute secrecy, why is it not used for all secret communication? The answer is that it is too impractical. Each time it is employed a key must be sent in advance, and the key must be at least as long as the anticipated message.
1993 Byte May 130/1 The most secure private key system is the one-time pad, which consists of an encryption key as long as the message.
one-time system n. = one-time cipher n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > code, cipher > [noun] > particular codes
character1605
needle-alphabet1663
unicode1886
rail fence1916
Vigenère1916
Playfair1918
Playfair1932
one-time system1955
speech code1973
one-time cipher1977
1955 Gloss. Soviet Mil. Terminol. (U.S. Army Technical Manual 30–544) 228/1 One-time system.
2001 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 13 May 31 An unbreakable code really is possible: one simply combines the message with a stream of pure random numbers used only once (the so-called ‘one-time’ system used by spies).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1850