# no

Pronunciation: say "NOH" US /noʊ/, UK /nəʊ/

## Determiner

1. Not any.
   - Simple: Not any, not even one.
   - _No cars are allowed on the island, so everyone rides bikes._
   - _There's no milk left, so we'll have to eat toast instead._
4. Expressing that an action is forbidden or that there is no chance of it happening at all.
   - Simple: Used to say that something is not allowed or not possible.
   - _No smoking. No parking. No under-18s._
   - _Once the rumor started there was no stopping it._
5. Not truly or fully what the following noun describes.
   - Simple: Not a real or proper one.
   - _He is no expert, whatever his business card says._
   - _That damp shack by the river is no home for a family of five._
9. Hardly any.
   - Simple: Hardly any, or almost none.
   - _With everyone helping out, the dishes were done in no time._
   - _It's no distance from the station, you can walk it._

## Particle

2. Used to give a negative answer or express disagreement, denial, refusal, or prohibition, including when confirming a negative question.
   - Simple: Used to give a negative answer, or to disagree, refuse or tell someone not to do something.
   - _No, you may not stay up past ten on a school night._
   - _No, I never touched your keys; check the pocket of your coat._
12. Combined with yes or another affirmative word or phrase as a way of signaling agreement. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used in speech with yes or another agreeing word to show you agree.
   - _Yeah, no, I totally agree, the ending was perfect._
   - _No, yeah, we should definitely go, she said._

## Adverb

3. Not; not at all, used before different, before comparatives with more and less, and idiomatically before other comparatives.
   - Simple: Not at all. Used before different, and before more, less, and other comparing words.
   - _The new version of the app is no better than the old one._
   - _Look no further than the end of your own street._
10. Informally, not, used idiomatically before certain adjectives. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Not. Used in speech before a few words like good and fair.
   - _"No fair!" the children cried when the teacher ended the game._
   - _The old map is no good for the new roads._
13. Used in mock-primitive speech, usually humorously, to mean not, does not or do not. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Not, used as a joke to sound like a caveman.
   - _Brain no work before coffee, she groaned._
   - _Me no understand these new tax forms, he joked at dinner._
14. Not, now chiefly Scottish and informal, used before verbs and plain adjectives. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: In Scotland, not.
   - _It's no like him to be late._
   - _She's no been well since the winter._

## Noun

6. A negative answer or decision; a vote against a proposal.
   - Simple: An answer that says no, or a vote against something.
   - _When he asked to borrow the car, the answer was a firm no._
   - _Every no from a publisher went into the drawer with the others._
7. Alternative spelling of No., the abbreviation for number, used before a figure. — Alternative form of No.. (pronounced: US say "NUM-bur" /ˈnʌmbɚ/; UK say "NUM-buh" /ˈnʌmbə/)
   - Simple: Alternative form of No., short for number.
   - _The report refers throughout to witness no 4._
   - _Bus no 19 stops outside the museum._

## Preposition

8. Without.
   - Simple: Without something, as when you order food.
   - _He ordered a burger, no onions, with extra pickles._
   - _"Whiskey, no ice," she told the bartender without looking up._

## Verb

11. To give a negative answer; to say no to, decline or reject something. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To say no, or to turn something down.
   - _If you no her suggestions in front of the whole team, she will stop making them._
   - _You can't just no every idea I have._

## Interjection

15. Put at the end of a statement as a brief question that asks the hearer to confirm it or go along with it. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Said as a quick question after something you say, to ask the other person to agree or say it is true.
   - _The meeting got moved to Thursday, no?_
   - _That was easily the best scene in the whole movie, no?_
16. A cry of dismay, distress, or disappointment when unwelcome news arrives or something goes wrong.
   - Simple: Said when something bad happens or you hear bad news, to show you are upset.
   - _Oh no, they've canceled our flight again._
   - _No! I forgot to save the file before the power went out._
17. An exclamation of astonishment or disbelief on hearing something unexpected, whether welcome or unwelcome.
   - Simple: Said when you hear something surprising and can hardly believe it.
   - _"I'm engaged." "No! Since when?"_
   - _"The bakery on Elm Street closed last week." "No! Are you serious?"_

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 4–5, 9, 15–17** — This 'no' was inherited from Middle English no, a reduced form of none ("not any") used before consonants, from Old English nān ("none, not any"), going back to Proto-Germanic *nainaz, literally "not one" (*ne "not" + *ainaz "one"). It is related to Scots nae, Dutch neen, and Old Norse neinn.
**Meanings 2–3, 6, 8, 10–14** — This 'no' was inherited from Middle English no, from Old English nā, nō ("no, not, never"), from Proto-Germanic *naiwô ("never"), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European negative particle. It formed from Old English ne ("not") plus ā, ō ("ever, always"), and is related to Dutch nee, German nie ("never"), and Swedish nej.
**Meaning 7** — Scribes once wrote No. as a short way of giving the Latin (in) numerō, which means "in number" or "to the number of". This "no" is simply another way of writing that abbreviation.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/no (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).