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nonce - 4 dictionary results

nonce

  [nons]
Use nonce in a Sentence
–noun
the present, or immediate, occasion or purpose (usually used in the phrase for the nonce).
Origin:
1150–1200; ME nones, in phrase for the nones, by faulty division of for then ones for the once (ME then dat. sing. of the 1 ; ones once )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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nonce   (nŏns)   
n.  The present or particular occasion: "Her tendency to discover a touch of sadness had for the nonce disappeared" (Theodore Dreiser).

[From Middle English for the nones, for the occasion, alteration of for then anes : for, for; see for + then : neuter dative sing. of the; see the1 + ones, anes, once; see once.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Nonce

Nonce\ (n[o^]ns), n. [For the nonce, OE. for the nones, a corruption of for then ones, where n. in then is a relic of AS. m in [eth]am, dat. of the article and demonstrative pronoun, E. the. See For, Once, and The.] The one or single occasion; the present call or purpose; -- chiefly used in the phrase for the nonce.

The miller was a stout carl for the nones. --Chaucer.

And that he calls for drink, I 'll have prepared him A chalice for the nonce. --Shak.

Nonce word, "a word apparently employed only for the nonce". --Murray (New English Dict.).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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nonce 
abstracted from phrase for þe naness (c.1200) "for a special occasion, for a particular purpose," itself a misdivision of for þan anes "for the one," in reference to a particular occasion or purpose, the þan being from O.E. dative def. article þam. The phrase used from c.1315 as an empty filler in metrical composition. Hence, nonce-word "word coined for a special occasion," 1954.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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