nowadays English · revision 7890

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=before 1376}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈnaʊ.ə.deɪz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English nou adayes, nowadayes,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[now]] and adayes, during the day,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) originally a dayes, a phrase of a, on, and dayes, the genitive of dai, [[day]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ At present, in these times: before 1376, in ''Piers Plowman'';^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline, as a contraction of the mid-14th-century phrase.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The parallel ''then-adays'', at that time, is attested from the 1680s but is less common.^(Etymonline) MWU also records a shorter nowaday.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-14th century – nou adayes.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1376 – nowadayes.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1680s – then-adays.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In the [[present]] time; these days.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[now]]

+ * [[day]]

+ * [[adays]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}