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
David John Chávez, The Mercury News, 29 Mar. 2024
Upon slicing open the fresh muffins, there was nary a crag in sight.
—Sarah Schutte, National Review, 11 Feb. 2024
The robot’s at least temporary retirement was accompanied by nary a beep.
—Hurubie Meko, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2024
The species variety was amazing and there was nary a single squirrel.
—Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 12 Jan. 2024
There is nary an old building, promenade, or tree in Samara; only hotels, public offices, banks, and sunburnt squares.
—Michelle Orange, Harper's Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023
Flames and smoke surge out of the back of the building, with the same intensity as the wind whipping the flag in the 2017 painting, but in the foreground the museum floats in a pool of water showing nary a trace of disturbance.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023
By Tuesday, there was nary a head-encircling hair accessory in sight.
—Marci Robin, Allure, 13 Sep. 2023
Helmed by Taibi Magar, there’s nary a weak performance in the production at the Loeb Drama Center.
—Don Aucoin, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Sep. 2023
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.
Word History
alteration of ne'er a
1746, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing nary
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Cite this Entry
“Nary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nary. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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