None

Pronunciation

• IPA: /nÊŒn/
• Homophones: nun

Alternative forms

• non 11th-17th c.

Origin

From Middle English none, noon, non ("not one"), from Old English nān ("not one, not any, none"), from ne ("not") + ān ("one"). Cognate with Scots nane ("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").

Full definition of none

Pronoun

1. Not any (one) of a given number or group of things. With singular or plural concord.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 1, In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, …, and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.
• 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p. 253:Alas, none of these people were writing the reviews.
2. Not any person: no one, nobody (with singular concord); no people (with plural concord).

Usage notes

Although uncountable nouns require none to be conjugated with a singular verb, e.g., None of this meat tastes right, the pronoun can be either singular or plural in most other cases, e.g., Fifty people applied for the position, but none were accepted., and None was qualified.

However, where the given or implied context is clearly singular or plural, then a matching verb makes better sense:

None of these men is my father.

None of those options is the best one.

None of these people are my parents.

Antonyms

• some
• all

Derived terms

• half a loaf is better than none

Determiner

1. (now archaic except Scotland) Not any; no.
• 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXV:the foles toke their lampes, but toke none oyle with them.
• 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, p. 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

1. (in no way) To no extent, in no way. from 11th c.I felt none the worse for my recent illness.He was none too pleased with the delays in the program that was supposed to be his legacy.
2. Not at all. from 13th c.Now don't you worry none.
3. (obsolete) No, not. 14th-16th c.
• c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Shipman's Tale", 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.

Noun

1. A person without religious affiliation.
• Mysticism: A Variety of Psychological Perspectives
• American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
• Politics and Religion in the United States, we have grouped people into nones (no religion), Jews, Catholics, mainline Protestants, and evangelical protestants.

Anagrams

• neon