From Middle English nevere, navere, nævere, from Old English nǣfre, equivalent to ne + ever.

• (British) IPA: /ˈnɛv.ə(ɹ)/
• (America) IPA: /ˈnɛv.ɚ/

never (not comparable)

1. At no time; on no occasion; in no circumstance.
   • 1613–1614 (date written), John Fletcher, William Shak[e]speare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Waterson;  […], published 1634, →OCLC ↗, Act I, scene ii, page 4 ↗:

     Why should I love this Gentleman? Tis odds / He never will affect me;

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC ↗:

     In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.

   • 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Chapter XXI: A New Departure in Flavorings,

     "I never thought you were so fond of Mr. Phillips that you'd require two handkerchiefs to dry your tears just because he was going away," said Marilla.

   • 1919, B. G. Jefferis, J. L. Nichols, Searchlights on Health: Sensible Rules for the Nurse:

     Never speak of the symptoms of your patient in his presence, unless questioned by the doctor, whose orders you are always to obey implicitly.

   I finally finished, and I never want to do that again.

   I repeated the test a hundred times, and never saw a positive result.

   I will never tell.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:never

2. Not at any other time; not on any other occasion; not previously.
   • 1601 November 29, Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth I's Farewell Speech:

     There is no jewel, be it of never so rich a price, which I set before this jewel: I mean your love.

   • 1813 January 26, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC ↗:

     "He is just what a young man ought to be," said she, "sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners!--so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!"

   • 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Chapter XIII: The Delights of Anticipation,

     I never saw such an infatuated man.

3. (colloquial) Negative particle (used to negate verbs in the simple past tense; also used absolutely).

   The police say I stole the car, but I never did it.

   You said you were going to mow the lawn today. – I never!

   • 1905, E. W. Horning, A Thief in the Night:

     "You're never going to break in?"
     "This instant, if you'll, help me; in five or ten minutes, if you won't."

• all the time
• always
• consistently
• constantly

• continually
• continuously
• ever

• French: jamais
• German: nie, niemals, nimmer
• Italian: mai, giammai (emphatic, obsolete)
• Portuguese: nunca, jamais
• Russian: никогда́
• Spanish: nunca, jamás

1. A statement of defiance