none English · revision 3045

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 750|origins=ang nān}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /nʌn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|non]], none,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|nān|t=not one, not any, no person]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from ne “not” and ān “one”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) the source of [[no]] and [[one]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Its cognates include Old Saxon nēn, Old Norse neinn, and Dutch neen and German nein “no”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and it is analogous to Latin nōn.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It is thus the negative of one, an and a.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English nān is recorded probably about 750,^(Barnhart 1988) and the OED's first example, “no one, not any of a number”, is from 835.^(OED 1989) Middle English non is from probably about 1150.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As an adjective it was used from late Old English, but from about 1600 it was reduced to no, except in a few archaic phrases, especially before vowels, such as ''none other''.^(Etymonline) The adverb, “by no means”, is from the 1650s,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) and “in no respect, to no extent”, as in ''none the worse'', from 1799.^(Etymonline) The plural use, “no persons”, is as old as the singular.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 750 – Old English nān.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 835 – no one of a number.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1600 – adjective use reduced to no.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650s – adverb, by no means.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1799 – adverb, to no extent.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # Not any; not one: ''none of the guests came''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # No one; [[nobody]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # No part; [[nothing]]: ''none of it was true''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Not at all; in no way: ''none the wiser''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(archaic)'' Not any; no.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[none-so-pretty]]

+ * [[nonesuch]]

+ * [[all-or-none]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[no]]

+ * [[one]]

+ * [[nothing]]

+ * [[nobody]]

+ * [[non-]]

+ * [[nonetheless]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ It is often said that ''none'' means “no one” and so takes a singular verb, but it has been used with both singular and plural verbs since Old English times,^(AHD) and the plural is common when it refers to more than one person or thing.^(AHD)^(OED 1989) A separate ''none'', usually ''nones'', is a church service of the ninth hour, from Latin nōna, the source of [[noon]].^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(Roach et al. 2011) In British English the pronunciation /nɒn/ is increasingly heard.^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}