none
Noun pluralnones
Pluralnones
- 1Not any of the people or things referred to; not one, nobody, or no part of something.
We tried several keys, but none of them opened the lock.
Many were invited, yet none of the guests stayed past midnight.
UsageNone of + a plural takes a singular or plural verb; with a mass noun it is singular: none of the meat is.
Oppositeall
- 2Not at all; to no extent, used before 'the' with a comparative or before 'too'.
The manager seemed none too pleased with the late delivery.
Their welcome felt none too warm after such a long trip.
- 3A person who reports having no religious affiliation.
Raised Catholic, he now counts himself a none and spends his Sunday mornings hiking instead.
Surveys show that the share of nones has grown steadily among adults under thirty.
Note
A survey answer turned into a noun: asked their religion, these people reply with the pronoun meaning "not any", and the word also puns on nun. The term is chiefly American. Sociologists set it beside Catholics, Jews and evangelicals as a group of its own. It records affiliation, not belief. Nones still report mystical experiences, and Putnam and Campbell's American Grace (2010) singles out "stable nones" who give the same answer in both survey years.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts
- The religious noun derives from answering “none” to a survey question about religion. api.pageplace.de
- The word also plays on “nun.” en.wiktionary.org
- Researchers treat nones as a separate group alongside religious affiliations. simonandschuster.com
- Having no religious affiliation does not necessarily mean having no religious beliefs. pewresearch.org
- Religiously unaffiliated people report mystical experiences. pewresearch.org
- Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell wrote American Grace, published in 2010. americangrace.org
- American Grace describes “stable nones” as respondents reporting no religious affiliation in both survey years. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 4Not any; no, used chiefly before a word beginning with a vowel or the letter 'h.'
the foles toke their lampes, but toke none oyle with them.
1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt (Tyndale Bible)None lasses were in the dunces' row. If one had been there people would have looked at her and felt sorry but not boys.
2008, James Kelman, Kieron SmithSimilarno
Note
An old determiner that stands where modern English puts no, chiefly before a vowel or h. William Tyndale's Newe Testamẽt (1526) has the foolish virgins take "none oyle," and "none other gods" follows the same pattern. Outside Scotland and the West Country it is archaic. In living use the vowel rule loosens: James Kelman's Kieron Smith, Boy (2008) writes "None lasses were in the dunces' row."
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- Tyndale's complete New Testament was first published in 1526. tyndale.org
- Tyndale's account of the foolish virgins contains “none oyle.” wesley.nnu.edu
- “None other gods” is an attested example of this determiner construction. churchofengland.org
- James Kelman wrote Kieron Smith, Boy, first published in 2008. en.wikipedia.org
- The novel contains the quoted sentence, using “none” before a consonant. en.wiktionary.org
- 5No; not, used to express denial or refusal.
Note
An obsolete negative that once denied or refused where we now say no or not. It is the same word as the pronoun, from Old English nān ("not one"), pressed into service as a flat denial. Readers meet it only in older texts. Modern writing has no place for it outside deliberate pastiche, where it should be clearly marked as old-fashioned.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- None historically served as a negative meaning no or not; this sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
- The obsolete negative shares the pronoun's origin in Old English nān, meaning not one. en.wiktionary.org
- 6SayNOHNUS/noʊn/UK/nəʊn/The time around or following noon or nones; midafternoon.
None of the day, is the third quarter of the day beginning at Noon and lasting till the Sun be gone half way towards setting.
1656, T. Blount, GlossographiaThe last, which began at the middle of the Afternoon, i.e. at half the Time between Noon and Sun-setting, was called None, because it began at the Ninth Hour.
1706, L.E. Dupin, “v, 43”Similarmidafternoon
Note
An obsolete name for a stretch of the day rather than a moment, tied to the canonical hour. T. Blount's Glossographia (1656) defines "None of the day" as the third quarter of the day, from noon until the sun is halfway to setting. L. E. Dupin's A New Ecclesiastical History (1706) instead says it began at the ninth hour. Modern prose says midafternoon.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- This obsolete sense denotes a period of the day associated with nones. en.wiktionary.org
- Thomas Blount's Glossographia was published in 1656. leme.library.utoronto.ca
- Blount defines 'None of the day' as the third quarter, extending from noon until halfway to sunset. leme.library.utoronto.ca
- Dupin says that the period called None began at the ninth hour. en.wiktionary.org
- 7The ninth hour counted from dawn, about 3 p.m., or the church prayer service said at that time; another form of nones.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
Old English nān, meaning "not one, not any, none", which goes back through Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic, became Middle English none ("not one"). At heart it is "ne" (not) plus "one". German nein and kein and Latin nōn ("not") are related.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The Old English source is nān, meaning “not one, not any, none”. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English nān descends through Proto-West Germanic from Proto-Germanic. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English nān developed into Middle English none, meaning “not one”. en.wiktionary.org
- The formation combines a negative element meaning “not” with “one”. en.wiktionary.org
- German nein and kein and Latin nōn (“not”) are etymologically related to none. en.wiktionary.org
People who give "none" as their religion are called this, so the use grows out of the first sense. It also works as a pun on "nun".
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The label refers to people who report having no religion. pewresearch.org
- This religious noun derives from the ordinary sense of "none" used in answering questions about religion. en.wiktionary.org
- The term also involves wordplay on "nun". en.wiktionary.org
From French none, from Latin nōna ("ninth; ninth hour").
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- English none in its liturgical sense comes from French none. en.wiktionary.org
- French none derives from Latin nōna. fr.wiktionary.org
- Latin nōna means “ninth” or “ninth hour.” en.wiktionary.org