nonce
/nɑns/noun, adjective
nonce is spelled N-O-N-C-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, nonce means “A nonce word” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of nonce is nonces.
How many letters and syllables are in nonce?
| Letters | 5: N-O-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 56,788th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is nonce?
Nonce appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nonce?
- UK /nɒns/
- US /nɑns/
- Australia /nɔns/
Nonce has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-nonce.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with nonce?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as nonce from its last stressed vowel (/ɑns/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of nonce
- nonces plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nonce mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
archaicThe 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.
- 2
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.
- 3
A value constructed so as to be unique to a particular message in a stream, in order to prevent replay attacks.
The information gained by the eavesdropper would permit a replay attack, but only with a request for the same document, and even that may be limited by the server's choice of nonce.
- 4
IrelandUKderogatoryA sex offender, especially one who is guilty of sexual offences against children.
- 5
A pedophile.
- 6
IrelandUKderogatoryslangA police informer, one who betrays a criminal enterprise
- 7
IrelandUKderogatoryslangA stupid or worthless person.
Shut it, ya nonce!
adjective
- 1
One-off; produced or created for a single occasion or use. Denoting something occurring once.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nonce in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nonce come 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).