A nonce word is a term created for a specific purpose, often using existing words or onomatopoeia. They are usually only used once, but some become popular and even make it into the dictionary. The term “nonce” comes from Middle English and has no relation to the British slang usage. Examples include “slithy” from Jabberwocky and “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from Mary Poppins. “Quark” was originally a nonce word in Finnegan’s Wake but later used by a physicist to describe a subatomic particle.
A term created to fulfill a specific, one-time purpose is known as a nonce word. Even if these are fictional words, the reader or listener should usually be able to figure out the meaning of the nonce word by the way it is formed or through the use of contextual clues. Most nonce words are only used once, but occasionally a writer may create one that finds its way into common usage. Some of these words even find their way into the dictionary over time.
“Nonce” essentially means “for the only occasion”. The word dates back to the Middle Ages, where the phrase “per e naness” or “per the nonce” arose from the misunderstanding of the phrase “per þan anes”, which means “for the one”. In 1884, the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, then called the New English Dictionary, created the term “nonce word” to describe any word coined for an immediate, special occasion. It is important to note that the term “nonce word” has no relation to the British slang usage of “nonce,” which refers to a type of sex offender.
Writers often create nonce words as a type of placeholder word when looking for a way to express a familiar concept in a new way. Often, but not always, a writer or speaker creates a nonce word by combining multiple existing words. For example, the term “slithy,” coined in Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky, is a portmanteau of the words “slimy” and “lithe.” Other nonce words are formed through the use of onomatopoeia and sound like their intended meaning. “Tattarrattat”, coined by James Joyce in Ulysses in 1922, refers to a knock on the door.
Most nonce words are only used for the one, specific occasion that prompted their creation. However, some of these terms find their way into common usage, especially if the source of their origin is a popular book or movie. For example, the term “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” comes from the 1964 musical film Mary Poppins, but is also understood by many outside the context of the film as a descriptive term expressing one’s enthusiasm for the grandeur of a particular subject or event.
On rare occasions, a nonce word may even be accepted as a real word and eventually be included in the dictionary. When this occurs, however, the term doesn’t always mean what it meant during its original coinage. The term “quark,” for example, was originally coined in 1939 in James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake. Joyce used the word nonce as a means of describing a certain type of crying. Later, in 1964, physicist Murray Gell-Mann picked up on the term and used it to describe a new type of subatomic particle.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
