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A.Word.A.Day--nonce

Pronunciation Sound Clip RealAudio

This week's theme: words formed by false splitting.

nonce (nons) noun

1. The present or immediate occasion.

2. The time being.

[From the phrase "for the nonce", a misdivision of "for then anes", from for + then (the) + anes (one).]

See more usage examples of nonce in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"I pursed my lips and set aside my thirst for the nonce." C Sanford Lowe and G David Nordley; Loki's Realm; Analog Science Fiction & Fact (New York); Jul/Aug 2007.

X-Bonus

After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on -- have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear -- what remains? Nature remains. -Walt Whitman, poet (1819-1892)

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