none
English
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.]
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.
Derived terms
Translations
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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 762018299, Matthew ]:
- the foles toke their lampes, but toke none oyle with them.
- 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 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.]
- c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Shipman's Tale", The Canterbury Tales:
- And up into his contour-hous gooth he / To rekene with hymself, wel may be, / Of thilke yeer how that it with hym stood, / And how that he despended hadde his good, / And if that he encresses were or noon.
- c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Shipman's Tale", The Canterbury Tales:
Translations
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Etymology 2
From the first sense, since they respond “none” when asked about their religion; also a play of words on nun.
Noun
none (plural nones)
- (chiefly American) A person without religious affiliation.
- 2003, Jacob A. Belzen, Antoon Geels, Mysticism: A Variety of Psychological Perspectives, page 50:
- Both the religiously dis-identified ("nones") and the religiously committed report mystical experiences.
- 2010, Robert D. Putnam, David E Campbell, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, page 591:
- Stable nones, that is, people who report in both years that they have no religious affiliation, are, in fact, much less religious
- 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.
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Noun
none (plural nones)
- Alternative form of nones: the ninth hour after dawn; (Christian) 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, D. Cotes translating L.E. Dupin as A New Ecclesiastical History of the 16th Century. Vol. II, Chapter v, 43:
- 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.
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See also
References
- "none, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dutch
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Noun
none m (plural nonen, diminutive noontje n)
Friulian
Interlingua
Italian
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈnoː.ne/, [ˈnoːnɛ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈno.ne/, [ˈnɔːne]
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
none m (definite singular nonen, indefinite plural noner, definite plural nonene)
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
none m (definite singular nonen, indefinite plural nonar, definite plural nonane)
Inflection
indefinite singular | definite singular | indefinite plural | definite plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nynorsk m | none | nonen | nonar | nonane |