Word Study
nonce
CIDE DICTIONARY
nonce, n. [For the nonce, OE. for the nones, a corruption of for then ones, where n. in then is a relic of AS. m in , dat. of the article and demonstrative pronoun, E. the. See For, Once, and The.].
The one or single occasion; the present call or purpose; -- chiefly used in the phrase for the present time . [1913 Webster]
"The miller was a stout carl for the nones." [1913 Webster]
"And that he calls for drink, I 'll have prepared him
A chalice for the nonce." [1913 Webster]
A chalice for the nonce." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
nonce, n.
Idiom
for the nonce for the time being; for the present occasion. nonce-word a word coined for one occasion.
Etymology
ME for than anes (unrecorded) = for the one, altered by wrong division (cf. NEWT)
THESAURUS
nonce
contemporaneity, contemporaneousness, historical present, modernity, newness, now, nowadays, nowness, our times, present, present tense, presentness, the Now Generation, the nonce, the now, the present, the present age, the present day, the present hour, the present juncture, the present time, the time being, the times, these days, this day, this hour, this instant, this moment, this point, this stage, todayROGET THESAURUS
nonce
The Present Time
N the present, the present time, the present day, the present moment, the present juncture, the present occasion, the times, the existing time, the time being, today, these days, nowadays, our times, modern times, the twentieth century, nonce, crisis, epoch, day, hour, age, time of life, present, actual, instant, current, existing, extant, that is, present-day, up-to-date, up-to-the-moment, at this time, at this moment, at the present time, now, at present, at hand, at this time of day, today, nowadays, already, even now, but now, just now, on the present occasion, for the time being, for the nonce, pro hac vice, on the nail, on the spot, on the spur of the moment, until now, to this day, to the present day, the present hour alone is man's.For further exploring for "nonce" in Webster Dictionary Online
