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I am one, but not the only one.

If you deify me, I leave.

If you do something else to me, I give wisdom.

If you take me, you are doing something that starts with me.

What am I?

Hint:

The first line defines me. The other three lines refer to putting something in front of me.

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  • $\begingroup$ In the 2nd line, is it meant to be defy instead of deify? $\endgroup$
    – Mea Culpa Nay
    Jan 28, 2018 at 17:07
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    $\begingroup$ @MeaCulpaNay Deify is the intended spelling $\endgroup$
    – b a
    Jan 28, 2018 at 17:26
  • $\begingroup$ I guess it could be doing something with extraction of wisdom tooth :-) $\endgroup$
    – Mea Culpa Nay
    Jan 29, 2018 at 12:38

6 Answers 6

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You are:

PART

I am one, but not the only one.

If you are a PART, then you are one part of something but not the only part.

If you deify me, I leave.

If you are "de"-ified, you become DEPART, and leave.

If you do something else to me, I give wisdom.

If I instead prepend "im", you IMPART wisdom.

If you take me, you are doing something that starts with me.

If I TAKE PART, then I am PARTICIPATING.

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  • $\begingroup$ Exactly correct $\endgroup$
    – b a
    Jan 30, 2018 at 8:51
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The logic is a bit wobbly, but are you...

speed?

I am one, but not the only one.

Unsure on this. Speed is a measurement, just like mass, force, and innumerable others. So one, but certainly not the only one.

If you deify me, I leave.

Godspeed is a somewhat antiquated alternative to "goodbye", so if you say it, someone's leaving.

If you do something else to me, I give wisdom.

Bringing someone up to speed means informing them regarding a situation.

If you take me, you are doing something that starts with me

If you "take speed", you're speeding up (and "speeding" starts with "speed").

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  • $\begingroup$ This is a clever answer, and makes good use of plays on words, but still not what I had in mind. +1 though $\endgroup$
    – b a
    Jan 29, 2018 at 12:42
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I think you are:

apart

I am one, but not the only one.

a part by definition is one but not the only one.

If you deify me, I leave.

Set apart - can mean deify and also putting something aside (weakest part of guess)

If you do something else to me, I give wisdom.

pick apart - how you learn about something

If you take me, you are doing something that starts with me.

take apart - starts with a part.

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  • $\begingroup$ "Deify" could refer to qrcneg (ROT 13) and give wisdom could refer to vzcneg (ROT 13). Sorry don't know how to add spoiler tags on stack exchange to a comment. $\endgroup$
    – kevin omar
    Jan 30, 2018 at 2:09
  • $\begingroup$ and the last one cnegnxr $\endgroup$
    – ngn
    Jan 30, 2018 at 3:11
  • $\begingroup$ puzzle-guesser: You got the first line mostly right but the others aren't what I was intending. @kevinomar Both of your interpretations are correct $\endgroup$
    – b a
    Jan 30, 2018 at 8:49
  • $\begingroup$ @ngn I was thinking of a different word, but that also works $\endgroup$
    – b a
    Jan 30, 2018 at 8:49
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I am

Buddhism

I am one, but not the only one.

There are three different schools of Buddhism, namely Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Vajrayana Buddhism

If you deify me, I leave.

Buddhism is a non deity religion, hence incompatible with deifying- an act reserved towards godly creatures

If you do something else to me, I give wisdom.

If you embrace Buddhism, you are on a trail towards enlightenment/nirvana.

If you take me, you are doing something that starts with me

One of the most important practices of Buddhism is meditation.

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  • $\begingroup$ This is an interesting answer, but not what I had in mind. The language tag should be relevant to the answer. I also didn't really understand your interpretation of the last line $\endgroup$
    – b a
    Jan 29, 2018 at 8:50
  • $\begingroup$ @ba Oh I see, I am a newbie here; I need to familiriaze my self with the tagging system here. For the last my idea was if you take Buddhism classes, an important aspect of it is doing me-ditation. $\endgroup$
    – clark
    Jan 30, 2018 at 13:55
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You are:

The indefinite article "a"

I am one, but not the only one.

"A" refers to a single object, but in a way that implies there are many of that object.

If you deify me, I leave.

Adding "dios" gives "adios," Spanish for "goodbye"

If you do something else to me, I give wisdom.

Not sure on this one...

If you take me, you are doing something that starts with me.

Taking anything could also be "acquiring" something, which starts with "a".

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  • $\begingroup$ This is an interesting answer, but the answer I was thinking of doesn't require any language other than English $\endgroup$
    – b a
    Jan 29, 2018 at 23:52
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Kind of jumping through some hoops here, but I'm guessing you are:

Away (or "A Way")

I am one, but not the only one

Away is "a way", but not the only way

If you deify me, I leave

God + away = "got away"

If you do something else to me, I give wisdom

Away + ken = "awaken" (as in an awakening of knowledge)

If you take me, you are doing something that starts with me

Take a way = "wayfaring" (definitely my weakest part of this answer)

Again, I may have stretched the rules a bit, but this is what I've come up with so far.

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