What does "nonce" mean?
Nonce: The one or single occasion; the present call or purpose; -- chiefly used in the phrase for the nonce. The miller was a stout carl for the nones. Chaucer. And that he calls for drink, I 'll have prepared him A chalice for the nonce. Shak. Nonce word, "a word apparently employed only for the nonce". Murray (New English Dict. ).
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00