none1

 
Pronunciation: /nʌn/

pronoun

  • not any: none of you want to work don’t use any more water, or there’ll be none left for me
  • no person; no one: none could match her looks

adverb

(none the) [with comparative]
  • by no amount; not at all: it is made none the easier by the differences in approach

Phrases

none the less

see nonetheless.

none other than

used to emphasize the surprising identity of a person or thing: her first customer was none other than Henry du Pont

be none the wiser

see wise1.

none the worse for

see worse.

none too

see too.

will have (or want) none of something

refuse to accept a particular thing, especially a person’s behaviour: I will have none of it

Origin:

Old English nān, from ne 'not' + ān 'one', of Germanic origin; compare with German nein 'no!'

It is sometimes held that none can only take a singular verb, never a plural verb: none of them is coming tonight rather than none of them are coming tonight. There is little justification, historical or grammatical, for this view. None is descended from Old English nān meaning ‘not one’ and has been used for around a thousand years with both a singular and a plural verb, depending on the context and the emphasis needed.