Nonce
The one, particular, or present occasion, purpose, or use
Did you know?
Nonce first appeared in Middle English as a noun spelled “nanes.” The spelling likely came about from a misdivision of the phrase “then anes.” (“Then” was the Middle English equivalent of “the” and anes meant “one purpose.”) The word was especially used in the phrase for the nonce, meaning “for the one purpose,” as in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Prologue” of Canterbury Tales: “A cook they hadde with hem for the nonces To boille the chiknes with the marybones.”
The adjective “nonce” did not exist in print until the publication in 1884 of the New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (which later became the Oxford English Dictionary). The editor of that dictionary, James Murray, created the term “nonce-word” as a label for “words apparently employed for the nonce.”
Some Related Definitions
– The present occasion
Type of:
nowadays, present
Examples from books and articles
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He would need to bum them eventually, no doubt, but for the nonce they were bound with iron chains inside their cells.
A Dance with Dragons
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Hopefully this means that, elsewhere in the film, Jones will headbutt the dragon for being a nonce.
The GuardianMar 9, 2011
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But for the nonce they’re playing attitudes more than characters, and at times they seem to be in the same show only by virtue of sharing the shot.
Los Angeles TimesAug 4, 2014
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In a nonce, the two accidental partners find themselves knocking at the polished door of St. Kilda’s, looking for, at best, an informant; at worst, a killer within.
Washington Post
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘nonce’. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Alltypemeaning.com or its editors.