now
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /nɒ/
ipa: /naʊ/
ipa: /naʊ/
note: Dublin
ipa: /næʊ/
note: Dublin
ipa: /nɛʊ/
ipa: /nuː/
rhymes: -aʊ
homophone: nao
Forms: form: nowe
Etymology: From Middle English now, nou, nu, from Old English nū, from Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu, from Proto-Indo-European *nū (“now”). Doublet of nu ("well?").
Cognates
Cognate with Scots noo, nou, now (“now”), Yola neow, now, nowe (“now”), North Frisian nü (“now”), Saterland Frisian nu (“now”), West Frisian no (“now”), Dutch nu, nou (“now”), German nu, nun (“now”), Limburgish noe, Nuu (“now”), Danish, Swedish nu (“now”), Elfdalian nų (“now”), Faroese nú, núgv (“now”), Icelandic nú, núna (“now”), Norwegian Bokmål nu, nå (“now”), Norwegian Nynorsk no, nu, nå (“now”), Gothic 𐌽𐌿 (nu, “now”), Latin num (“even now, whether”), Latin nunc (“now”), Albanian ni (“now”), Lithuanian nù (“now”), Avestan 𐬥𐬏 (nū, “now”), Sanskrit नु (nu, “now”).
Senses: examples: text: Defects seem as necessary to our now happiness as their Opposites.
ref: 17th century, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; in an Essay of the Vanity of Dogmatizing and Confident Opinion, published 1885, page 207:
text: The history of the infant colonies teaches us that the country comprised within the limits of the now United States of America was originally patented in the reign of James I., of England, into two portions: that in less than eighty years from that period, the same was again divided into twelve distinct provinces; a thirteenth being after added in the creation of the State of Georgia.
ref: 1855, Conrad Swackhamer, The United States democratic review, volume 5:
text: Where in assumpsit for money lent, the defendant pleaded that in an action in which the now defendant was plaintiff, and the now plaintiff was defendant,[…].
ref: 1908, The English reports:
text: Radio 4's continuity announcer said at the end of the show: "As many of you will have noticed, that edition of The Now Show wasn't very now. It was actually last week's programme. Our apologies for that."
ref: 2010 March 17, “Radio 4 apologises for day old shipping forecast”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 07 Jul 2013:
text: For example, the organization has groundlessly denounced Elon Musk, a powerful libertarian voice, as an antisemite in a baldfaced effort to drain his social network, X, of advertising revenue. Yet, when now-Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) came to the defense of his uncle for antisemitic remarks he made in the ’90s, the organization refused to condemn him.
ref: 2024 February 16, Mike Howell, “Partnership With ADL Compromises FBI’s Integrity and Fairness”, in The Daily Signal:
glosses: Present; current.
examples: text: I think this band's sound is very now.
text: Bernard: What does it do?
Fran: It's very in.
Bernard: You don't know what it is, do you?
Fran: It's very now.
ref: 2000, “Cooking the Books”, in Black Books, season 1, episode 1 (television production):
glosses: Fashionable; popular; up to date; current.
examples: text: now wife
topics: law
glosses: At the time the will is written. Used in order to prevent any inheritance from being transferred to a person of a future marriage. Does not indicate the existence of a previous marriage.
Related terms: happening