numai

• numa', numa — colloquial, apocopic
• нумай (numai) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Univerbation of nu +‎ mai. Compare Latin American Spanish nomás, Catalan només and Venetan noma. First attested in the 16th century.

The imperative-accompanying sense is a semantic loan from Hungarian csak.

• IPA^(key): /ˈnu.maj/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -umaj
• Hyphenation: nu‧mai

numai

1. only (no more than)

   și nu numai ― and more

   numai că ― however, it’s just that

   Trenul merge cu numai 60 km/h.

   The train is only going 60 km/h.

   În sertar sunt numai niște chei.

   In the cabinet there’s only some keys.

   Marea Depresie nu a afectat numai America.

   The Great Depression did not affect only America.

2. only (exclusively)

   Intrarea este permisă numai personalului autorizat.

   Entry for authorised personnel only.

   Numai temperaturile extreme pot rupe legătura azotului molecular.

   Only extreme heat can break the bond of molecular nitrogen.

   1. (before predicate noun, sometimes with redundant tot, hyperbolic) Indicates the subject to be characterised by an abundance of the respective noun: all

      numai un zâmbet ― all smiles

      Am mers desculț pe asfaltul fierbinte și acum picioarele-mi sunt numai bășici.

      I walked barefoot on the hot asphalt and now my feet are all blisters.

3. (informal, followed by negated phrase optionally introduced with că) almost, nearly, just about (of an event that was close to happening)

   Furtuna de ieri numai că nu a doborât copacii.

   Yesterday’s storm nearly struck down the trees.

   Mama numai n-a leșinat când a aflat.

   Mum almost fainted when she found out.

4. (colloquial, in narration, optionally negated without change in meaning) suddenly, unexpectedly

   Mergeam cu el pe stradă, și numa-l văd cum cade într-o gură de canal.

   So I’m walking on the street with him, and suddenly I see him fall down a manhole.

5. (with ce, optional adversative with că, informal) only just (not long before)

   ―Cât mai ai de lucru? ―Numai ce am terminat.

   “How much work do you have left?” “I just finished.”

   În Rusia numai ce se încheiase Primul Război Mondial, că a și început Războiul Civil.

   The First World War had just ended in Russia, when the Civil War began.

6. (now only in the following collocations) just (quite)

   numai bun ― just fine

   numai bine ― quite well, just swimmingly

7. (now nonstandard) Synonym of ci (“but rather”).
8. (Banat, Transylvania, colloquial) Follows an imperative, sometimes serving to point out the simplicity of the command or to disregard protest.

In careless speech numai (“only”) can trigger the double negative like its synonym decât. Such usage is obsolete in standard language.

Some of the modifications that the sentence following numai in the sense of “just about” may suffer are: taking the subjunctive mood when preceded by the verb fi (era numai să—was just about to); being negated without any conjunction; or (most unambiguously) being introduced with că while also being negated. Numai in this sense is sometimes reduplicated for emphasis.

• (only): abia, decât, doar
• (all): tot
• (exclusively): decât, doar, exclusiv
• (almost): aproape, cât pe ce, mai
• (only just): abia, de-abia, taman, tocmai

• de numa’
• de numa-numa
• numaidecât
• numaicât

numai (now nonstandard)

1. but

   Synonyms: dar, însă

It’s more common and standard for numai to introduce a sentence as an adverb in the conjunctional phrase numai că (“it’s just that”, or, more loosely, “but”).

• numai in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)