nones
/nəʊnz/
nones noun: the notional first-quarter day of a Roman month, occurring on the 7th day of the four original 31-day months (March, May, Quintilis or July, and October) and on the 5th day of all other months. Also the alternative form of noon.
Noun (1)
nones (plural nones)
- The notional first-quarter day of a Roman month, occurring on the 7th day of the four original 31-day months (March, May, Quintilis or July, and October) and on the 5th day of all other months.
- The third day before the nones of March is March 5th; the third nones of August is August 3rd; and the third of the nones of November is November 3rd.
- Þa monðas þe habbað iiii nonas æfter kalendas... habbað to idus xiii dagas and to ii kalendas eahtatyne.
Those months that have 4 nones after the kalends... have 13 days to the ides and eighteen to the second kalends.10th century, Byrhtferð of Ramsey, Enchiridion (Ashmolean MS 328), Book I, Chapter ii, Section 22
- The ninth hour after dawn (about 3 pm).
- ...the same Liturgy of prayers be used both at Nones and Vespers.
- [With the note:] Nones was what we call three o'clock in the afternoon.1709, John Johnson, The Clergy-Man's Vade Mecum, Pt. II, p. 101
- The divine office appointed to the hour.
- The Greek monks always listen to their reader recite Psalms 83, 84, and 85 from the Septuagint at nones.
- Synonyms:
- none
- Synonym of lunch: a meal eaten around noon.
- I... ouer-seye me at my sopere and some tyme at nones.c. 1400, William Langland, The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman (Laud MS 581), v. 378
- Synonyms:
- lunch
Noun (2) capitalized: Nones
Nones pl
- Those without any religious affiliation: atheists and others outside any organized religion.
- The second is the “Nones” proper, those who in response to the question “What is your religious tradition, if any?” answer “None.” […] Even among the “Nones” only a small minority identify as atheist or agnostic. In fact, the vast majority of “Nones” claim beliefs and attitudes more like than...2004, Patricia O’Connell Killen, Introduction to Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone, page 17
- The mobility of American society has done little or nothing to erode strong regional religious cultures such as those of the Catholics of the Northeast, the Lutherans of the Upper Midwest, the Baptists of the South and the “Nones” of the Pacific Northwest.2006, Barry A. Kosmin et al., Religion in a Free Market, pages xvi–xvii
Noun (3) capitalized: Nones
Nones
Also used as
nones is also the alternative form of noon.
nones is also the alternative form of Nones.
Examples of nones in a sentence
- [March, May, Quintilis, and October] also have their Nones on the seventh, as Numa ordained, because Julius changed nothing about them.2011, Robert A. Kaster trans. Macrobius, Saturnalia, Book I, Chapter xiv, Section 8
- The Kalends then would have been the day after the evening on which the crescent had been first sighted, the Nones would have been the first day when the moon was at the first quarter...2015, Agnes Kirsopp Michels, Calendar of the Roman Republic, page 21:
Synonyms of nones
Forms of nones
| plural | nones |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Nones |
| alternative form | Non. |
| alternative form | nones |
Origin of nones
From Latin nōnus (“ninth”). As a day of the Roman calendar, via nōnae (“ninth days”) from the original Roman practice of counting forward to the next full or new crescent moon, the nones' occurrence 8 days before the ides of every month (9 counting inclusively) following the establishment of a fixed calendar, and from the Latin practice of treating most recurring calendrical days as plurals. Some scholars believe the name is a variant of the nundines (nūndinae fēriae (“ninth-day festival”)), the Roman market days held every eight days (9 counting inclusively), which were likely announced for each coming month by the Roman kings on the first-quarter days. As a time of day, via the plural form of Middle English, Anglo-Norman, & French none and Latin nōna (“ninth hour”) after the manner of earlier matins, vespers, etc. As a meal, from the time of day, whether from its plural, genitive, or the occasional adverbial sense of -s.
See Nones.
From their selection of the option None or None of the above on census returns or other surveys of religious affiliation.
Phrases with nones
Words that rhyme with nones
Questions about nones
- What does nones mean?
- Nones means the notional first-quarter day of a Roman month, occurring on the 7th day of the four original 31-day months (March, May, Quintilis or July, and October) and on the 5th day of all other months.
- How do you use nones in a sentence?
- [March, May, Quintilis, and October] also have their Nones on the seventh, as Numa ordained, because Julius changed nothing about them.
- What part of speech is nones?
- Nones is a noun.
- How do you pronounce nones?
- Nones is pronounced /nəʊnz/ (UK).
- What is the plural of nones?
- The plural of nones is nones.
Words near nones in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nones (page history and authors); Nones (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-nones.wav.
Cite this entry: “nones.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nones. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.