nonce
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nonce¹
- /nɒns/ UK
- /nɑns/ US
- /nɔns/ Australia
Rhymes with -ɒns
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English nonse, nones, a rebracketing of Middle English to þen anes, for þen anes (to/for the once (i.e., the one occasion or instance)), from the dative singular neuter of þe. The cryptography sense is commonly said to be a contraction of number used once, although this is probably incorrect.
noun nonces
- The one or single occasion; the present reason or purpose. That will do for the nonce, but we'll need a better answer for the long term.
- A nonce word. I had thought that the term was a nonce, but it seems as if it's been picked up by other authors.
- A value constructed so as to be unique to a particular message in a stream, in order to prevent replay attacks. The protocol opens with A communicating in clear to AS his own claimed identity and the identity of the desired correspondent, B, together with A's nonce identifier for this transaction, I_(A1). ("Nonce" means "used only once.")
adjective
- One-off; produced or created for a single occasion or use. Denoting something occurring once. But particular men are not stereotyped for jobs nor particular desks (as against others) to sit at - the standard here is nonce.
nonce²
- /nɒns/ UK
- /nɑns/ US
- /nɔns/ Australia
Rhymes with -ɒns
Where it comes from
1975.
Unknown, derived from British criminal slang. Several origins have been proposed; possibly derived from dialectal nonce, nonse (“stupid, worthless individual”) (but this cannot be shown to predate nonce "child-molester" and is likely a toned-down usage of the same insult), or Nance, nance (“effeminate man, homosexual”), from nancy or nancyboy. The rhyme with ponce has also been noted.
As prison slang also said to be an acronym for "Not On Normal Communal Exercise" (Stevens 2012), but this is likely a backronym.
noun nonces
- A sex offender, especially one who is guilty of sexual offences against children. 1989 "assorted nonces, ponces and murderers, 'the worst men in the world' … on the nonce wing, where the child-killers, molesters and various perverts have to be protected from the other prisoners." (New Statesman, New Society, Volume 2, Statesman & Nation Publishing Company Limited)
- A pedophile. ‘He's a nonce[. A] nonsense merchant, a paedophile[,’ Terry explained.]
-
A police informer, one who betrays a criminal enterprise
Similar: snitch
- A stupid or worthless person. Shut it, ya nonce!
Translations
Every language
noun one or single occasion; the present reason or purpose
| Español | ad hoc |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | einmalig, Einmal- |
| Русский | да́нный слу́чай dánnyj slúčaj, ока́зия okázija |
noun value constructed so as to be unique to a particular message in a stream
| Español | nonce |
|---|
noun sex offender, especially one who is guilty of sexual offences against children
| Español | violeta |
|---|---|
| Português | jack |
| Français | pointeur |
| Русский | педофи́л pedofíl, растли́тель rastlítelʹ, соврати́тель sovratítelʹ, извраще́нец izvraščénec |
Talk about this word "nonce." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/nonce. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. nonce. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/nonce "nonce." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/nonce.Cite this
@misc{nonce_2026,
title = {nonce},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/nonce},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
