• Now

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /naʊ̯/
    • Rhymes: -aÊŠ

    Origin

    From Middle English now, nou, nu, from Old English nū ("now, at present, at this time, immediately, very recently"), from Proto-Germanic *nu ("now"), from Proto-Indo-European *nū ("now"). Cognate with Scots noo ("now"), Saterland Frisian nu ("now"), West Frisian no ("now"), Dutch nu, nou ("now"), German nu, nun ("now"), Swedish nu ("now"), Icelandic nú ("now"), Latin num ("even now, whether"), Latin nunc ("now"), Albanian ni ("now"), Lithuanian nù ("now"), Avestan (nū, "now"), Sanskrit नु (nu, "now").

    Full definition of now

    Adjective

    now

    1. Present; current.
      • 17th C, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; in an Essay of the Vanity of Dogmatizing and Confident Opinion, 1885, page 207,Defects seem as necessary to our now happiness as their Opposites.
      • 1855, Conrad Swackhamer, The United States democratic review, Volume 5‎,The history of the infant colonies teaches us that the country comprised within the limits of the now United States of America was originally patented in the reign of James I., of England, into two portions: that in less than eighty years from that period, the same was again divided into twelve distinct provinces; a thirteenth being after added in the creation of the State of Georgia.
      • 1908, The English reports,Where in assumpsit for money lent, the defendant pleaded that in an action in which the now defendant was plaintiff, and the now plaintiff was defendant,....
      • 2010 March 17, The Telegraph, news website, Radio 4 apologises for day old shipping forecast,Radio 4's continuity announcer said at the end of the show: "As many of you will have noticed, that edition of The Now Show wasn't very now. It was actually last week's programme. Our apologies for that."
    2. (archaic, legal) At the time the will is written. Used in order to prevent any inheritance from being transferred to a person of a future marriage. Does not indicate the existence of a previous marriage.Now wife.
    3. (informal) Fashionable; popular; up to date; current.I think this band's sound is very now.

    Adverb

    now

    1. At the present time.
      Now I am six.
      • ArbuthnotI have a patient now living, at an advanced age, who discharged blood from his lungs thirty years ago.
    2. (sentence) Used to introduce a point, a remonstration or a rebuke.
      Now, we all want what is best for our children.   Now, stop that Jimmy!
      • 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 3, Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
    3. Differently from the immediate past; differently from a more remote past or a possible future; differently from all other times.
      Now I am ready.   We all now want the latest toys for our children.   We all want what is now best for our children.
      • 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 5, Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.
    4. Differently from the situation before a (stated or implied) event or change of circumstance.
      Now my whole life is different.   Now all the children have grown up and left, the house is very quiet.   Now that my sister has gotten rid of their cat, we can go to her house this coming Thanksgiving.
      • 2013-07-20, The attack of the MOOCs, Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.
    5. At the time reached within a narration.
      Now, he remembered why he had come.   He now asked her whether she had made pudding.   The pudding was now ready to be served.
    6. In the context of urgency.
      Now listen, we must do something about this.
    7. (obsolete) Very recently; not long ago.
      • WallerThey that but now, for honour and for plate,
        Made the sea blush with blood, resign their hate.

    Derived terms

    Conjunction

    1. since, because, in light of the fact.''We can play football now that the rain has stopped.

    Interjection

    !
    1. Indicates a signal to begin.''Now! Fire all we've got while the enemy is in reach!

    Noun

    now

    (usually uncountable; plural nows)
    1. (uncountable) The present time.Now is the right time.There is no better time than now.
      1. (often with "the") The state of not paying attention to the future or the past.She is living in the now.
      2. (countable, chiefly in phenomenology) A particular instant in time, as perceived at that instant.
        • Emily DickinsonForever is composed of nows.
        • Time is not thrust together and summed up out of nows, but the reverse: with reference to the now we can articulate the stretching out of time always only in specific ways.

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