Definition of nonce
1 : the one, particular, or present occasion, purpose, or use for the nonce
2 : the time being
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Origin and Etymology of nonce
Middle English nanes, alteration (from misdivision of then anes in such phrases as to then anes for the one purpose) of anes one purpose, irregular from an, on one — more at one
First Known Use: 13th century
nonce
Definition of nonce
: occurring, used, or made only once or for a special occasion a nonce word
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 nones 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."
1884
First Known Use of nonce
1884
NONCE Defined for English Language Learners
nonce
Definition of nonce for English Language Learners
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: used or made only once or for a special occasion
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Spanish Central: Translation of nonce
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