now

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English nou, also nu,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English nū (“at the present time, immediately; now that”),^[2][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *nu,^[2][7] from Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”).^[2][4][8] It is cognate with Old Frisian nū, Old Saxon nū, Dutch nu, Old High German nū, German nun (with an added adverbial -n), Old Norse nú and Gothic 𐌽𐌿 (nu).^[9][4][3] Outside Germanic it has cognates in Latin nunc, Ancient Greek νῦν (nûn), Lithuanian nù, Old Irish nu-, Hittite nu (“then, and, but”) and Tocharian A nu (“but, then”).^[4][3][2] Klein says that these words originally meant "newly, recently", and derives them from a base related to that of new;^[3] Etymonline makes the same suggestion as a possibility,^[2] and Ayto and Partridge also relate the two.^[8][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

At the present time or moment: the OED's first record is the early Old English Vespasian Psalter,^[5] and Barnhart dates Old English nū to before 725.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Old English already used the word for the moment just ahead ("at once"), the moment just past, and the time spoken of in a narrative.^[5] The moment-just-past sense now survives only in just now.^[5] Also from Old English the temporal sense could fade altogether: now gave tone to a command or request and introduced the next point of an argument,^[5][2] and the use of now then to introduce a command goes back to Old English.^[11][5] Now then first meant "at the present time" and also "at once" in the early 13th century, when it was often written as one word.^[2] The extended sense "under the present circumstances" appears before 1400,^[5] and the mild reproof now, now is recorded from 1847, in Jane Eyre.^[5] As a conjunction, "since, seeing that", it continues the Old English meaning "now that".^[2][4] The noun "the present time" and the adjective "current" are Middle English; the adjective was in use until the 18th century,^[2] and it was revived in the 1960s for "up to date, stylish".^[2][4] Johnson (1755) put first "at this time; at the time present".^[12]

Timeline

• before 725 – Old English nū, adverb, at the present moment.^[4][5]
• 12th century – noun, the present time.^[13] Barnhart dates it to before 1300 and Etymonline to the late 14th century.^[4][2]
• before 1200 – Middle English nou, in Laȝamon.^[4]
• early 13th century – now or never (nu oþer neure).^[2]
• c. 1250 – conjunction, since.^[4]
• c. 1385 – adjective, current.^[4][2]
• before 1400 – under the present circumstances.^[5]
• mid-15th century – now and then, occasionally.^[2]
• 1847 – now, now, a mild remonstrance.^[5]
• 1963 – adjective, stylish, up to date.^[4] Etymonline dates this use to 1967.^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. At the present time or moment: The shop is now closed.^[14][13][5]
2. At once; without delay: We must answer now.^[14][13][5]
3. In these times; nowadays.^[14]
4. Given the present circumstances: Now we'll have to walk home.^[14][5]
5. just now: a moment ago: He rang just now.^[14][13][5]
6. At that point in a narrative; then, next.^[5]
7. With the sense of time weakened or lost, adding force to a command or question, or as a mild rebuke: Now, be careful!, now, now.^[13][14][5]
8. Introducing a new point in an argument.^[5]
9. now and then, now and again: from time to time.^[14][2]
10. for now: for the time being.^[14]

Conjunction

1. Since; seeing that; often with that: Now that the rain has stopped, we can go out.^[13][15]

Noun

1. The present time or moment.^[13][2]

Adjective

1. Existing at the present time; current.^[13][4]
2. (informal) Fashionable; up to date.^[13][4][2]

Word family

• nowness
• nowadays
• now and then
• right now

Related words

• new

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
14. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press