# now

Pronunciation: say "NOW" /naʊ/

## Adverb

1. At the present time, often in contrast with the past or showing that things have changed.
   - Simple: At this time, often meaning things are different from before, as in 'the village is now a suburb'.
   - _The village is now a suburb._
   - _She now works from home._
2. Right away, with no waiting, especially when ordering, asking, or urging someone to do something.
   - Simple: Right away, with no waiting, often used when telling or asking someone to do something.
   - _Order now and get free shipping on your first purchase._
   - _"Everyone out of the building now!" the firefighter shouted._
3. Used at the start of a sentence to introduce a point, to get attention, or to urge, warn or scold.
   - Simple: Said at the start of a sentence to get attention or move to a new point, as in 'Now, listen.'
   - _Now, where were we?_
   - _Now, that is not quite true._
6. At the time reached in a narration ('by evening she now knew the truth'), the story's present rather than the speaker's.
   - Simple: At this point in a story, as in 'now he remembered'.
   - _She now understood what the letter meant._
   - _The road now turned toward the sea._
9. At the present point of a recurring cycle, such as this time of day, week or year. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: At this point in the day or week, when it comes round again.
   - _The park is empty now, before the schools come out._
   - _We usually eat now, so join us._
11. Repeated in a series to mean sometimes one state, sometimes another.
   - Simple: Used in pairs to list changing states, as in 'now smiling, now frowning'.
   - _The music was now loud, now soft._
   - _The crowd moved now forward, now back._

## Conjunction

4. Since, because, in the light of a change that has happened; usually in the form 'now that' ('now that the shop is open, we can buy milk').
   - Simple: Because something has changed, as in 'now that school is over'.
   - _Now that you mention it, I did hear a noise._
   - _Now the exams are over, she can relax._

## Noun

5. The present time or moment, as opposed to the past or future.
   - Simple: This moment or the present time, as in 'from now on' or 'live in the now'.
   - _From now on, we lock the door._
   - _By now they will have landed._

## Adjective

7. Present or current at the time being referred to, especially the time of writing.
   - Simple: Current at the time being discussed or when something was written.
   - _She was teaching English abroad when she met her now husband, a fellow teacher from Ohio._
   - _The letter was addressed to the now duchess, who was then a shop assistant in Leeds._
10. Fashionable, current or of the moment, usually with very or so. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Fashionable and up to date, as in 'that look is very now'.
   - _Her whole apartment is very now._
   - _That phrase was very now in the nineties._

## Interjection

8. Shouted as the signal to begin an action at that very moment ('Now! Jump!').
   - Simple: Shouted as the signal to start doing something.
   - _On my mark. Now!_
   - _The crew waited, ropes in hand, until the captain shouted "Now!" and they all pulled together._

## Adverb

12. In but now, very recently or a moment ago. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old use meaning 'just now', as in 'they that but now fought'.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Chiefly in phenomenology, a particular instant as perceived at that instant.

## Origin

From Middle English "now" (also "nou," "nu"), from Old English "nū," tracing back through Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic to the Proto-Indo-European root *nū ("now"). It has many cognates, including Dutch "nu," German "nun," Danish and Swedish "nu," Icelandic "nú," Latin "nunc," and Sanskrit "nu."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/now (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).