'n'
/ən/
'n' is the contraction of and.
Meaning of and
Conjunction
and
- Used simply to connect two noun phrases, adjectives or adverbs.
- Soupes dorye. — Take gode almaunde mylke […] caste þher-to Safroun an Salt […]c. 1430 (reprinted 1888), Thomas Austin, ed., Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with Extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce...
- Simply connecting two clauses or sentences.
- When she saw several boys carrying a huge wooden case full of porcelain, she mumbled to Jinming that she was going to have a look, and left the room.1991, Jung Chang, Wild Swans
- Introducing a clause or sentence which follows on in time or consequence from the first.
- I'd been walking since sunrise, and I was hungry.
- Yet; but.
- Hee said, I goe sir, and went not.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew XXII
- Used to connect certain numbers: connecting units when they precede tens (now dated); connecting shillings to pence in a monetary quantity (now historical); connecting tens and units to hundreds, thousands etc. (now often omitted in US); to connect fractions to wholes.
- Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, Dedicatory Remarks (Gettysburg Address)^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address_(Bliss_copy)), near Soldiers' National Cemetery, →LCCN, Bliss copy, page 1
- Used to connect more than two elements together in a chain, sometimes to stress the number of elements.
- And these does she apply, for warnings and portents, / And euils imminent; and on her knee / Hath begg'd, that I will stay at home to day.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
Words formed from 'n'
- dead 'n' buried
- death 'n' roll
- drag 'n' drop
- drill 'n' bass
- drum 'n' bass
- fish 'n' chips
- good 'n' ready
- hook 'n' kill
- kiss 'n' ride
- mac 'n' cheese
- mint 'n' chip
- mint 'n' choc
- mom 'n' pop
- over 'n' out
- park 'n' ride
- pick 'n' mix
- pork 'n' beans
- Posh 'n' Becks
- rake 'n' scrape
- reef 'n' beef
- rock 'n' roll
- salt 'n' shake
- shake 'n' bake
- surf 'n' turf
- Town 'n' Country
Phrases with 'n'
Questions about 'n'
- What is 'n' the contraction of?
- 'n' is the contraction of and.
- How do you pronounce 'n'?
- 'n' is pronounced /ən/.
Words near 'n' in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: 'n' (page history and authors); and (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-'n'.ogg.
Cite this entry: “'n'.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/%27n%27. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.