none
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Etymology 1
From Middle English none, noon, non (“not one”), from Old English nān (“not one, not any, none”), from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz (“none, nought, nothing”), equivalent to ne (“not”) + one. (Regarding the different phonological development of only and one, see the note in one.)
Cognate with Scots nane (“none”), Saterland Frisian naan, neen (“no, not any, none”), West Frisian neen & gjin (“no, none”), Dutch neen & geen (“no, none”), Low German nēn, neen (“none, no one”), German nein & kein (“no, none”), Latin nōn (“not”).
Alternative forms
- non [11th–17th c.]
Pronunciation
Pronoun
none
- Not any of a given number or group.
- None of those is a good example. None are even acceptable.
- None of this meat tastes right.
- No one, nobody.
- None of those people is my father.
- No person.
- None of those people are my parents.
- 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, page 253:
- Alas, none of these people were writing the reviews.
Usage notes
None used to replace uncountable nouns should always be singular. None used in place of countable nouns may be either singular or plural, unless the rest of the circumstances or phrasing require it to be one or the other.
Antonyms
Derived terms
- all-or-none
- bar none
- Buckley's and none
- half a loaf is better than none
- have none of it
- have none of something
- it's none of your business
- none of someone's business
- none of these words are in the Bible
- none of your bees' wax
- none of your bee's wax
- none of your beeswax
- none other than
- none-so-pretty
- nonesuch
- none the less
- none the wiser
- none the worse
- none too soon
- none to the worse
- religious none
- say none
- second to none
- there are none so blind as those who will not see
- there's none so blind as those who will not see
- two's company and three is none
Translations
not any person
|
not any thing
|
Determiner
none
- (archaic outside Scotland, West Country) Not any; no (usually used only before a vowel or h):
- Thou shalt have none other gods but me.
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew:
- the foles toke their lampes, but toke none oyle with them.
- 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 138:
- None lasses were in the dunces' row. If one had been there people would have looked at her and felt sorry but not boys.
Adverb
none (not comparable)
- To no extent, in no way. [from 11th c.]
- I felt none the worse for my recent illness.
- 1973, Paul Simon (lyrics and music), “Kodachrome”:
- my lack of education hasn't hurt me none
- Not at all, not very. [from 13th c.]
- He was none too pleased with the delays in the program that was supposed to be his legacy.
- We could hear none too well from the back.
- (obsolete) No, not. [14th–16th c.]
Translations
not at all
|
Etymology 2
From the first sense, since they respond “none” when asked about their religion; also a play on words on nun.
Pronunciation
Noun
none (plural nones)
- (chiefly American) A person without religious affiliation.
- 2013, Michael Corbett, Politics and Religion in the United States:
- we have grouped people into nones (no religion), Jews, Catholics, mainline Protestants, and evangelical protestants.
Etymology 3
From French none, from Latin nōna (“ninth; ninth hour”).[1]
Pronunciation
Noun
none (plural nones)
- Alternative form of nones: the ninth hour after dawn; (Christianity) the religious service appointed to this hour.
- (obsolete) Synonym of midafternoon: the time around or following noon or nones.
- 1656, T. Blount, Glossographia:
- None of the day, is the third quarter of the day beginning at Noon and lasting till the Sun be gone half way towards setting.
- 1706, L.E. Dupin, “v, 43”, in D. Cotes, transl., A New Ecclesiastical History of the 16th Century, volume II:
- The last, which began at the middle of the Afternoon, i.e. at half the Time between Noon and Sun-setting, was called None, because it began at the Ninth Hour.
See also
References
- "none, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Anagrams
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