nou

See also: nóu, nòu, noû, nõu, nǒu, and Appendix:Variations of "nou"

English

Noun

nou (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of noh (“classical Japanese music drama”)

Anagrams

• Nuo, ONU, UNO, Uno

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nœu/

Etymology 1

From Dutch nou, variant of nu.

Adverb

nou

1. now (at this time)

Derived terms

• nou-nou

Etymology 2

From Dutch nauw, from Middle Dutch nauwe, from Proto-Germanic *hnawwaz.

Adjective

nou (attributive nou or noue, comparative nouer, superlative nouste)

1. narrow

Inflection

Inflection of nou

	predicative	attributive	independent		partitive
			singular	plural
positive	nou	nou, noue	noue	noues	nous
comparative	nouer		nouere	noueres	nouers
superlative	nouste			noustes	—

Derived terms

• noute
• vernou

Äiwoo

Etymology

From Proto-Reefs-Santa Cruz *na u, from earlier *na kulu, from Proto-Oceanic *na kutu, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kutu, from Proto-Austronesian *kuCu.

Noun

nou

1. louse

References

• Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007) “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, number 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.
• Lackey, W.J.. & Boerger, B.H. (2021) “Reexamining the Phonological History of Oceanic's Temotu subgroup”, in Oceanic Linguistics.

Antillean Creole

Etymology

From French nous.

Pronoun

nou

1. we
2. us

Aragonese

Alternative forms

• nueu

Etymology

From Latin novem, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnou̯/
• Rhymes: -ou̯
• Syllabification: nou

Numeral

nou

1. nine

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• nãu, não

Etymology

From Latin novus. Compare Romanian nou.

Adjective

nou m (feminine noauã, masculine plural noi, feminine plural noauã or nali/nale)

1. new

Antonyms

• veclju

Derived terms

• noauã

Related terms

• nãutati

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈnɔw]

• Audio (Valencia):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: nou
• Rhymes: -ɔw

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan nou, from Latin novus, from Proto-Italic *nowos, from Proto-Indo-European *néwos. Compare Occitan nòu, French neuf, Spanish nuevo.

Adjective

nou (feminine nova, masculine plural nous, feminine plural noves)

1. new

   Antonym: vell

Derived terms

• bon vent i barca nova
• de nou
• nou de trinca
• Nou Ordre Mundial
• Nou Testament
• noucasat
• nounat
• nouvingut
• novament

 

Related terms

• innovar
• novell
• novel·la
• novetat
• renovar

 

Etymology 2

Catalan numbers ^(edit)

	90
[a], [b] ←  8	9	10  →
Cardinal: nou     Ordinal (Central): novè     Ordinal (Valencian): nové     Ordinal abbreviation (Central): 9è     Ordinal abbreviation (Valencian): 9é     Multiplier: nònuple
Catalan Wikipedia article on 9

Inherited from Latin novem (“nine”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥. Compare Occitan nòu.

Numeral

nou m or f

1. (cardinal number) nine

Noun

nou m (plural nous)

1. nine

Related terms

• noranta
• novè

Etymology 3

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *nŏcem, alteration of Latin nucem, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *knew-. Compare Occitan nòtz, Spanish nuez, Portuguese noz.

Noun

nou f (plural nous)

1. nut (a hard-shelled seed)
2. walnut

Derived terms

• nou moscada

Related terms

• noguera, noguer

Etymology 4

Verb

nou

1. inflection of noure:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

References

• “nou” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “nou”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “nou” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “nou” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch nou, a variant of nu, from Old Dutch *nu, from Proto-Germanic *nu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɑu̯/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑu̯

Adverb

nou (Northern)

1. come on; modal particle indicating a certain degree of urgency or impatience on behalf of the speaker.

   Ga nou! Straks kom je nog te laat! ― Come on now! Or you'll be late!

2. modal particle expressing a certain contrast or disjuncture

   Dat is nou ook weer overdreven! ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

3. (informal) alternative form of nu: now, at the present time

   Wat is er nou weer dan? ― What is it now then?

Usage notes

• Not used in Belgium. In the (northern) Netherlands there is to a large extent a functional split between the forms nou (modal particle and interjection) vs. nu (temporal adverb). Temporal nou is informal and not used by all speakers.

Descendants

• Afrikaans: nou
• Berbice Creole Dutch: nau
• Negerhollands: noe, nou, nu
• Skepi Creole Dutch: nou
• → Caribbean Javanese: na

Interjection

nou (Northern)

1. so, well; when pressing someone

   Nou, vertel me de waarheid dan! ― So tell me the truth then!

2. well; indicates a certain degree of doubt.

   Nou, ik weet het nog niet zo zeker. ― Well, I'm not so sure about that.

3. wow; indicates amazement or surprise.

   Nou, het waait toch wel hard hoor! ― Wow, it's still pretty windy!

Derived terms

• nou ja

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French nous (“we”), from Latin nōs (“we”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nu/

Pronoun

nou (contracted form n)

1. we
2. us
3. you pl

Hawaiian

Pronoun

nou

1. yours, for you (second person singular)

Usage notes

• Applied to o-type possessions.

Related terms

• kou

Verb

nou

1. (transitive) to throw, pitch

Louisiana Creole

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Probably from French "nous" or a clipping of Louisiana Creole "nouzòt" and/or French "nous autres".”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nu/
• Rhymes: -u

Pronoun

nou

1. Alternative form of nouzòt (“we, us; our”)

Mandarin

Romanization

nou

1. Nonstandard spelling of nóu.
2. Nonstandard spelling of nǒu.
3. Nonstandard spelling of nòu.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French nous.

Pronoun

nou

1. we; us (first-person plural personal pronoun)

See also

Mauritian Creole personal pronouns

			singular	plural
1st person			mo mwa (objective)	nou
2nd person			to (informal), ou (formal) twa (objective)	zot
3rd person			li	zot, bann-la

Middle English

Alternative forms

• noue, nu, no, neue, niu, noug, nough, nuge

Etymology

From Old English nū, from Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nuː/

Adverb

nou

1. now

Descendants

• English: now
• Geordie English: noo
• Scots: nou, noo
• Yola: neow, nowe, now

References

• “nǒu, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Romanian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin novus, from Proto-Italic *nowos, from Proto-Indo-European *néwos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /now/
• Rhymes: -ow

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

nou m or n (feminine singular nouă, plural noi)

1. new

   Antonym: vechi

Usage notes

Nou is one of the adjectives which, following the French model, are often preposited to nouns instead of the usual Romanian postposition. This is typical of more literary language.

It is possible, but not necessary, for this to introduce subtle distinctions in meaning. For example, o nouă carte could mean “a newly published book”, while o carte nouă would be “a newly bought or newly printed book”.

Declension

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	nou		nouă		noi	noi
	definite	noul		noua		noii	noile
genitive/ dative	indefinite	nou		noi		noi	noi
	definite	noului		noii		noilor	noilor

Derived terms

• din nou
• înnoi

Related terms

• inova
• noutate
• nova
• renova

References

• nou in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Sardinian

Alternative forms

• novu, nobu

Etymology

From Latin novus.

Adjective

nou

1. new

Scots

Adverb

nou (not comparable)

1. Alternative spelling of noo (“now”)

Zhuang

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *ʰnuːᴬ (“mouse; rat”). Cognate with Thai หนู (nǔu), Northern Thai ᩉ᩠ᨶᩪ, Lao ໜູ (nū), Lü ᦐᦴ (ṅuu), Tai Dam ꪘꪴ, Shan ၼူ (nǔu), Saek หนู่.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /nou˨˦/
• Tone numbers: nou¹
• Hyphenation: nou

Noun

nou (Sawndip forms 狃 or 𮮬 or 𧉭, 1957–1982 spelling nou)

1. mouse; rat

   Synonym: duznou

Derived terms

• aennou
• noucoengz