nonce
/nɑns/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.44 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A nonce word.
noun
A value constructed so as to be unique to a particular message in a stream, in order to prevent replay attacks.
noun
A sex offender, especially one who is guilty of sexual offences against children.
British usage; Derogatory
noun
A pedophile.
Example Sentences
- "That will do for the nonce, but we'll need a better answer for the long term."
- "[...] Dunce, / Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce, / After a life spent training for the sight!"
- "'Idiot!' exclaimed the doctor, who for the nonce was not capable of more than such spasmodic attempts at utterance."
- "I had thought that the term was a nonce, but it seems as if it's been picked up by other authors."
- "The protocol opens with A communicating in clear to AS his own claimed identity and the identity of the desired correspondent, B, together with A's nonce identifier for this transaction, I_(A1). ("Nonce" means "used only once.")"
- "The information gained by the eavesdropper would permit a replay attack, but only with a request for the same document, and even that may be limited by the server's choice of nonce."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English nonse, nones, a rebracketing of Middle English to þen anes, for þen anes (to/for the once (i.e., the one occasion or instance)), from the dative singular neuter of þe. The cryptography sense is commonly said to be a contraction of number used once, although this is probably incorrect.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /nɑns/
- British English: /nɒns/
Usage
- Archaic
- British usage
- Derogatory
- Slang