Flannery O'Connor
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Nary, most often used in the phrase "nary a" to mean "not a single," is an 18th-century alteration of the adjectival phrase "ne'er a," in which ne'er is a contraction of never. That contraction dates to the 13th century, and the word it abbreviates is even older: never can be traced back to Old English nǣfre, a combination of ne ("not" or "no") and ǣfre ("ever"). Old English ne also combined with ā ("always") to give us nā, the Old English ancestor of our no. Ā, from the Latin aevum ("age" or "lifetime") and Greek aiōn ("age"), is related to the English adverb aye, meaning "always, continually, or ever." This aye (pronounced to rhyme with say) is unrelated to the more familiar aye (pronounced to rhyme with sigh) used as a synonym of yes.
Examples of nary in a Sentence
Karen D'souza, The Mercury News, 13 July 2024
Just a year removed from people citing it as the reason that Democrats lost the seat, there is nary a mention of research in the post-race discussion.
—Brett Di Resta, New York Daily News, 5 Mar. 2024
There is nary a GOP congressional candidate running on a platform of accommodating China; even Hawley advocates a hard line toward Beijing.
—William Inboden, Foreign Affairs, 9 Nov. 2022
Paired with a floating fly line, there’s nary a smallmouth scenario this outfit couldn’t handle.
—Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 23 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for nary 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Nary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nary. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
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