nun
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English nonne, nunne, from Old English nunne (“nun”), from Late Latin nonna (“nun, tutor”), originally (along with masculine form nonnus (“man”)) a term of address for elderly persons, perhaps from children's speech, reminiscent of nana, like papa etc. Doublet of nonna.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
nun (plural nuns)
- A member of a Christian religious community of women who live by certain vows and usually wear a habit, (Roman Catholicism, specifically) those living together in a cloister.
- 1988, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions, Faber & Faber Limited (2021), page 258:
- Thus, when the nuns came to the mission and we saw that instead of murmuring soft blessings and gliding seraphically over the grass in diaphanous habits, they wore smart blouses and skirts and walked, laughed and talked in low twanging tones very much like our own American missionaries did, we were very disappointed.
- (by extension) A member of a similar female community in other confessions.
- a Buddhist nun
- (archaic, Britain, slang) A prostitute.[1]
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:prostitute
- 1770, Samuel Foote, The Lame Lover, a Comedy in Three Acts. […], London: […] Paul Vaillant; and sold by P[eter] Elmsly […]; and Robinson and Roberts, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 12:
- Why laſt night, as Colonel Kill'em, Sir William Weezy, Lord Frederick Foretop, and I were careleſsly ſliding the Ranelagh round, picking our teeth, after a damn'd muzzy dinner at Boodle's, who ſhould trip by but an abbeſs, well known about town, with a ſmart little nun in her ſuite.
- 1881, Pierce Egan, chapter 8, in Life in London[1], page 205:
- "I mean to inform you," answered the Oxonian, with a grin on his face, "that those three nymphs, who have so much dazzled your optics, are three nuns, and the plump female is Mother .... of great notoriety [...]"
- A kind of pigeon with the feathers on its head like the hood of a nun.
Usage notes edit
In Roman Catholicism, a distinction is often drawn (especially by members of female religious orders) between nuns and sisters, the former being cloistered and devoted primarily to prayer, the latter being more active, doing work such as operating hospitals, caring for the poor, or teaching.
Hyponyms edit
- See Poor Clare
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
- (member of a religious community): nonnus
- (prostitute): abbess, abbot, Covent Garden nun
Translations edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Further reading edit
Etymology 2 edit
Borrowed from the letter’s name in the respective language. Doublet of nu.
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
- enPR: nŏŏn, IPA(key): /nʊn/ or enPR: no͞on, IPA(key): /nuːn/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- Rhymes: -ʊn, -uːn
Noun edit
nun (plural nuns)
- The fourteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).
Translations edit
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See also edit
Further reading edit
- Nun (letter) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Etymology 3 edit
Pronoun edit
nun
References edit
- ^ John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1902), “nun”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume V, [London: […] Harrison and Sons] […], →OCLC, page 76.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024), “nun”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Asturian edit
Alternative forms edit
- ñun (adverb)
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Adverb edit
nun
Etymology 2 edit
Contraction edit
nun
Bambara edit
Noun edit
nún
References edit
- Richard Nci Diarra, Lexique bambara-français-anglais, December 13, 2010
Chiricahua edit
Alternative forms edit
- non (in older Americanist literature)
Etymology edit
Cognates: Navajo nooʼ, Western Apache non, noi, Plains Apache nǫǫ.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
nun
Chuj edit
Noun edit
nun
Esperanto edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
nun
Derived terms edit
Fala edit
Etymology edit
From Old Galician-Portuguese non, from Latin nōn (“not”).
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
nun
- Alternative form of non (“no, not”)
References edit
Finnish edit
Etymology edit
From Phoenician [Term?].
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
nun
- nun (fourteenth letter of the Hebrew and Phoenician scripts and the Northwest Semitic abjad)
Declension edit
Inflection of nun (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | nun | nunit | ||
genitive | nunin | nunien | ||
partitive | nunia | nuneja | ||
illative | nuniin | nuneihin | ||
singular | plural | |||
nominative | nun | nunit | ||
accusative | nom. | nun | nunit | |
gen. | nunin | |||
genitive | nunin | nunien | ||
partitive | nunia | nuneja | ||
inessive | nunissa | nuneissa | ||
elative | nunista | nuneista | ||
illative | nuniin | nuneihin | ||
adessive | nunilla | nuneilla | ||
ablative | nunilta | nuneilta | ||
allative | nunille | nuneille | ||
essive | nunina | nuneina | ||
translative | nuniksi | nuneiksi | ||
abessive | nunitta | nuneitta | ||
instructive | — | nunein | ||
comitative | See the possessive forms below. |
Galician edit
Etymology edit
From contraction of preposition en (“in”) + masculine article un (“a, one”).
Pronunciation edit
Contraction edit
nun m (feminine nunha, masculine plural nuns, feminine plural nunhas)
German edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle High German nu, nū, nuo with a secondary final -n, already occasionally in Middle High German nuon, from Old High German nu, from Proto-West Germanic *nū.
Alternative forms edit
- nu (colloquial; otherwise archaic)
Adverb edit
nun
- now, at this moment
- now, then; expressing a logical or temporal consequence
- Wir haben abgewaschen, nun müssen wir noch abtrocknen.
- We've washed up, now we must dry [the dishes].
- Was bedeuten nun die geschilderten Entwicklungen für unser Land?
- Now what do the aforementioned developments mean for our country?
- unstressed and expletive, used for minor emphasis
- Was soll das nun heißen?
- What's that supposed to mean now?
Usage notes edit
- Although the adverb is similar and akin to English “now”, German nun is not commonly used in a strictly temporal sense, meaning “at this moment”. For that, see jetzt.
Interjection edit
nun
Etymology 2 edit
Clipping of nun daß or nun da.
Conjunction edit
nun
- (literary or dated colloquial) now that, given that it has occurred that the circumstances do not withstand that …
Hausa edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
nun f
- nun (letter of the Arabic alphabet)
Ido edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Esperanto nun, German nun. Originally replaced with nunk, it was eventually taken back.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
nun
- now, at present, at this time
- Synonym: nunk (archaic)
Derived terms edit
- nun kande (“now when, now that”)
- nuna evento (“a present, current event”)
- nuna stando (“the existing condition, status quo”)
- nuna (“present, actual, current, now occurring”)
- nuntempa (“present day, time”)
- nuntempe (“at the present time”)
Italian edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
nun f (invariable)
- nun, specifically:
- the name of the Phoenician-script letter 𐤍
- the name of the Hebrew-script letter נ/ן
- the name of the Arabic-script letter ن
Jebero edit
Noun edit
nun
Lombard edit
Etymology edit
Akin to Italian noi, from Latin nos.
Pronoun edit
nun
Mandarin edit
Romanization edit
nun
- Nonstandard spelling of nún.
- Nonstandard spelling of nùn.
Usage notes edit
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Mirandese edit
Adverb edit
nun
Old French edit
Etymology 1 edit
See nom.
Noun edit
nun oblique singular, m (oblique plural nuns, nominative singular nuns, nominative plural nun)
- (Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of nom
Etymology 2 edit
Reduced form of negun.
Adjective edit
nun m (oblique and nominative feminine singular nune)
- Alternative form of negun
Pronoun edit
nun
- Alternative form of negun
Rohingya edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
nun
Synonyms edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Late Latin nonnus.
Noun edit
nun m (plural nuni, feminine equivalent nună)
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
See also edit
Sicilian edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
nun
Tat edit
Etymology edit
Akin to Persian نان (nân, “bread”), see there for more.
Noun edit
nun
Turkish edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
nun
Volapük edit
Noun edit
nun (nominative plural nuns)
Declension edit
Wolof edit
Alternative forms edit
- ñun (used alongside "nun" in Urban Wolof)
Pronoun edit
nun
- we (first-person plural subject pronoun)
See also edit
Zazaki edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
nun
- Alternative form of nan