nor
- 1Used after 'neither' or another negative, before the second and any later item, to show that none of them is true.
She speaks neither French nor German, so she relied on a translator.
He is neither tall nor short nor especially thin.
UsageUsed with neither: neither tea nor coffee. Repeating nor before a third item adds emphasis.
Note
Repeating the word before every term after neither is the older, more formal way to build a list of negatives. Milton lets it run through a whole catalog in Paradise Lost (1667): "nor rising sun … nor herb, fruit, flower … nor fragrance after showers." The device still works for emphasis, as in neither hungry nor thirsty nor tired, but a long chain of it now reads as deliberately formal or old-fashioned.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- John Milton wrote Paradise Lost. gutenberg.org
- Paradise Lost was first published in 1667. gutenberg.org
- Paradise Lost contains the quoted words in a series beginning with neither and continuing with repeated nor. en.wikisource.org
- 2Used in the sense of 'neither', especially before the first term of a negated pair.
Nor wind nor rain could drive them from the field.
I love your majesty / According to my bond, nor more nor less.
c. 1603, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”Note
Where modern English opens a negated pair with neither, older writers simply doubled the word. Ben Jonson's Poetaster (1602) has "Nor you nor your house were so much as spoken of," and Shakespeare's "nor more nor less" in King Lear follows the same pattern. Today it survives only as a deliberate archaism. In ordinary writing the first nor becomes neither, and the series-joining use carries on after it.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Ben Jonson wrote Poetaster. en.wikipedia.org
- Poetaster was first published in 1602; 1601 is its first-performance year. commons.wikimedia.org
- Poetaster contains the quoted words, spoken by Chloe. gutenberg.org
- King Lear contains nor more nor less, spoken by Cordelia. shakespeare-navigators.ewu.edu
- 3Used to mean 'and not', adding a further negative statement, usually after a negative clause but in literary style even without one.
The wind did not die down, nor did the rain stop when the sun came up.
No one had heard from the travelers by nightfall, nor was there any sign of their car.
UsageAfter nor, the helping verb comes before the subject: nor did she, nor was there, nor could I.
Note
A clause opener that can even do without an earlier negative to lean on, which gives it a storyteller's ring: Coleridge's "Water, water, every where, / Nor any drop to drink." The word looks like not plus or, but it descends from Middle English nauther and is a cousin of neither. After a negative clause it is plain standard English, as in I didn't go, nor did she. Without one, it keeps that literary cadence.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- The quoted lines are by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk
- Nor can be analysed superficially as not plus or. en.wiktionary.org
- Nor descends from Middle English nauther and is related to neither. en.wiktionary.org
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Less common meaning
- 4Used dialectally in parts of Britain to mean 'than' in a comparison.
He's taller nor his brother by a good few inches.
There's nowt better nor a hot meal after a day's work.
Similarthan
Note
George Eliot gives it to a speaker in Silas Marner (1861), "no better nor you should be," and Barbara Sleigh's Jessamy (1967) has "Sooner you nor me." Both show where it lives: in regional British speech and in dialogue that imitates it. In standard English, use than. A reader meeting "better nor" should hear a comparison here, not a negative.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- George Eliot wrote Silas Marner, first published in 1861. en.wikisource.org
- The words 'no better nor you should be' occur in a character's dialogue in Silas Marner; the speaker is Mr. Macey. gutenberg.org
- Barbara Sleigh wrote Jessamy, first published in 1967. openlibrary.org
- Jessamy contains the exact words 'Sooner you nor me.' en.wiktionary.org
Practice
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Origin
Neither is a cognate of this word, which comes from Middle English nauther, itself from nother. Read at face value, it looks like not + or.