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nonce

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nonce

  [nons]
–noun
the present, or immediate, occasion or purpose (usually used in the phrase for the nonce).
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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. 2010.
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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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Word Origin & History

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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