Link Centre Dictionary

now

UK/nuː/ US/naʊ/ very common informal us
adverb (7) noun (1)

adverb

1.

at the present moment

  • “goods now on sale”
  • “the now-aging dictator”
  • “they are now abroad”
  • “he is busy at present writing a new novel”
  • “it could happen any time now”
Synonyms
2.

in these times

  • “it is solely by their language that the upper classes nowadays are distinguished” Nancy Mitford
  • “we now rarely see horse-drawn vehicles on city streets”
  • “today almost every home has television”
Synonyms
3.

in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events

  • “President Kennedy now calls in the National Guard”
  • “Washington now decides to cross the Delaware”
  • “the ship is now listing to port”
4.

(prefatory or transitional) indicates a change of subject or activity

  • “Now the next problem is...”
5.

used to preface a command or reproof or request

  • “now hear this!”
  • “now pay attention”
6.

without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening

  • “he answered immediately”
  • “found an answer straightaway”
  • “an official accused of dishonesty should be suspended forthwith”
  • “Come here now!”
Synonyms
7.

in the immediate past

  • “told me just now”

noun

1.

the momentary present

  • “Now is a good time to do it”
  • “it worked up to right now”

Origin

From Middle English nou, nu, from Old English nū, from Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu (“now”), from Proto-Indo-European *nū (“now”). Doublet of nu ("well?"). Cognates Cognate with Scots noo, nou, now (“now”), Yola neow, now, nowe (“now”), North Frisian nü (“now”), West Frisian no (“now”), Dutch nu, nou (“now”), German nu, nun (“now”), Limburgish noe, Nuu (“now”), Danish and Swedish nu (“now”), Elfdalian nų (“now”), Faroese nú, núgv (“now”), Icelandic nú, núna (“now”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk no, nu, nå (“now”), Gothic 𐌽𐌿 (nu, “now”); also Gaulish nu (“now”), Latin num (“now”), Greek νυν (nyn, “currently, now”), Albanian ni, tani (“now”), Bulgarian ни́не (níne, “currently, now”), Czech nyní (“now”), Old Polish ninie (“now”), Russian но́не (nóne), ны́не (nýne, “now, today”), Ukrainian ни́ні (nýni, “nowadays; today”), Avestan 𐬥𐬏 (nū, “currently, now”), Baluchi نون (nún, “now”), Persian اکنون (aknun / aknūn), کنون (konun), نون (nun / nūn, “now”), Northern Kurdish ana, anaka, anêka, aniha, anika, naga, naha, naka, niha, niho, nika, noke, ئانا (ana), نکا (nka, “now”), Ossetian ныр (nyr, “now”), Hittite 𒆠𒉡𒌦 (ki-nu-un, “now”), Luwian 𒈾𒀀𒉡𒌦 (nānun, “now”),...

Phrases

  • all together now
  • any day now
  • any minute now
  • any moment now
  • any time now
  • anytime now
  • as of now
  • by now
  • eternal now

Related words

Broader terms

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.