now
/naʊ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 6.18 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Present; current.
adv
At the present time.
adv
Used to introduce a point, a qualification of what has previously been said, a remonstration or a rebuke.
adv
Differently from the immediate past; differently from a more remote past or a possible future; differently from all other times.
adv
At the time reached within a narration.
Example Sentences
- "[…] to my now wife Mabell, my child Elisabeth, & my child now begotten, &c., and they to be joint Exõrs, & if all die, then the same jointly to my brother William Every & my sisters Sarah Skibbowe & Joan Brice."
- "Defects seem as necessary to our now happiness as their Opposites."
- "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."
- "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,[…]."
- "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.""
- "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."
Etymology
From Middle English nou, nu, from Old English nū, from Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu (“now”), 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”), West Frisian no (“now”), Dutch nu, nou (“now”), German nu, nun (“now”), Limburgish noe, Nuu (“now”), Danish and Swedish nu (“now”), Elfdalian nų (“now”), Faroese nú, núgv (“now”), Icelandic nú, núna (“now”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk no, nu, nå (“now”), Gothic 𐌽𐌿 (nu, “now”); also Gaulish nu (“now”), Latin num (“now”), Greek νυν (nyn, “currently, now”), Albanian ni, tani (“now”), Bulgarian ни́не (níne, “currently, now”), Czech nyní (“now”), Old Polish ninie (“now”), Russian но́не (nóne), ны́не (nýne, “now, today”), Ukrainian ни́ні (nýni, “nowadays; today”), Avestan 𐬥𐬏 (nū, “currently, now”), Baluchi نون (nún, “now”), Persian اکنون (aknun / aknūn), کنون (konun), نون (nun / nūn, “now”), Northern Kurdish ana, anaka, anêka, aniha, anika, naga, naha, naka, niha, niho, nika, noke, ئانا (ana), نکا (nka, “now”), Ossetian ныр (nyr, “now”), Hittite 𒆠𒉡𒌦 (ki-nu-un, “now”), Luwian 𒈾𒀀𒉡𒌦 (nānun, “now”), Tocharian A nuṃ (“again, once more”), Tocharian B nano (“again, once more”), Sanskrit नु (nu, “now”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /naʊ/
- British English: /naʊ/
Usage
- Informal
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Countable
- American usage