English
no
see also: NO, No
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /nəʊ/
  • (America) IPA: /noʊ/
  • (Australia) IPA: /nəʉ/, /nɐʉ/
  • (New Zealand) IPA: /nɐʉ/
Etymology 1

From Middle English no, noo, na, a reduced form of none, noon, nan ("none, not any") used before consonants (compare a to an), from Old English nān, from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz, equivalent to .

Cognate with Scots nae, ofs nān, nēn "no, not any, none", Saterland Frisian naan, neen ("no, not any, none"), Northern Frisian nian, odt nēn "no, not any, none"; > Dutch neen, Old Norse neinn. Compare also osx nigēn "not any"; > Low German nen, odt nehēn (Middle Dutch negheen/negeen, Dutch geen), Western Frisian gjin, Old High German nihein (> German kein). More at no, one.

Determiner
  1. Not any.
    Synonyms: zero#Determiner
    Antonyms: any#Determiner, some#Determiner, ;, one#Determiner, ;, a few#Determiner, a couple of, a handful of, ;, multiple#Determiner, various#Determiner, ;, many#Determiner, numerous#Determiner, ;, countless#Determiner
    no one
    There is no water left.
    No hot dogs were sold yesterday.
    No geese were at the lake.
    No two people are the same.
    There was no score at the end of the first period. (The score was 0-0.)
  2. Hardly any.
    Antonyms: quite, some
    We'll be finished in no time at all.
    Fifty pounds for this is no money, really.
  3. Not any possibility or allowance of (doing something).
    No smoking
    There's no stopping her once she gets going.
  4. Not (a); not properly, not really; not fully.
    My mother's no fool.
    Working nine to five every day is no life.
    No geese have blue beaks.
Translations

see no/translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English no, na, from Old English nā, nō, from Proto-Germanic *nai, *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne, *nē, *nēy, equivalent to Old English ne + ā, ever, always.

Adverb

no (not comparable)

  1. (with following adjective) not, not at all
    1. Used before different, before comparatives with more and less, and idiomatically before other comparatives.
      It is a less physical kind of torture, but no less gruesome.
      You’re no better than a common thief.
      Look no further than one's nose
      This is no different from what we've been doing all along.
    2. (informal) Used idiomatically before certain other adjectives.
      This thing is no good.
      The teacher’s decision was no fair.
  2. (without adjective, now, Scotland, informal) not
    I just want to find out whether she's coming or no.
    • 1725, Daniel Defoe, An essay on the history and reality of apparitions:
      AS the Devil is not so Black as he is Painted, so neither does he appear in so many Shapes as we make for him; we Dress him up in more Suits of Cloaths, and more Masquerade Habits, than ever he wore; and I question much, if he was to see the Pictures and Figures which we call Devil, whether he would know himself by some of them or no.
Particle
  1. Used to show disagreement, negation, denial, refusal, or prohibition.
    Synonyms: nay, nope
    Antonyms: yes, yea, aye, maybe
    No, you are mistaken.
    No, you may not watch television now.
    David, no!
  2. Used to show agreement with a negative question.
    Synonyms: nah, nay, nope
    "Don’t you like milk?" "No" (i.e., "No, I don’t like milk.")
  3. (colloquial) Used together with an affirmative word or phrase to show agreement.
    No, totally.
    No, yeah, that's exactly right.
    "Wow!" "Yeah, no, it was really awful!"
Preposition
  1. without
  2. like
  3. (colloquial, usually, humorous) not, does not, do not, etc.
    Ug no like veggie.
Synonyms Translations

see no/translations

Noun

no (plural nos or noes)

  1. a negating expression; an answer that shows disagreement, denial, refusal, or disapproval
  2. a vote not in favor, or opposing a proposition
    The workers voted on whether to strike, and there were thirty "yeses" and two "nos".
Synonyms Antonyms Translations

see no/translations

Etymology 3

Variant of No., from the scribal abbreviation for Latin numero.

Adverb

no (not comparable)

  1. (archaic) Alternative form of No.
Noun

no (plural nos)

  1. Alternative form of No.
NO
Adjective
  1. (electronics, of a relay) Init of normally open
Proper noun
  1. (Roman Catholicism) Init of Novus Ordo
No
Etymology 1

Variant of No., from the scribal abbreviation for Latin numero.

Adverb

no (not comparable)

  1. (archaic) Alternative form of No.
Noun

no (plural nos)

  1. Alternative form of No.
Etymology 2

A macronless variant of Nō, the romanization of Japanese 能.

Noun

no

  1. Alternative form of Noh: a form of classical Japanese drama.
Proper noun
  1. A lake in South Sudan
  2. A county in South Sudan


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