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nary

adjective
\ ˈner-ē How to pronounce nary (audio) \

Definition of nary

dialect
: not any : not one I must have it back as I have nary other copy— Flannery O'Connor
nary a or nary an
: not a single survived the accident with nary a scratch
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Did You Know?

Nary, often used in the phrase "nary a" to mean "not a single," is an 18th century alteration of the adjectival phrase "ne'er a," in which "ne'er" is a contraction of "never." That contraction dates to the 13th century, and the word it abbreviates is even older: "never" can be traced back to Old English "nǽ fre," a combination of "ne" ("not" or "no") and "ǽfre" ("ever"). Old English "ne" also combined with "ā" ("always") to give us "nā," the Old English ancestor of our "no." "Ā," from the Latin aevum ("age" or "lifetime") and Greek aiōn ("age"), is related to the English adverb aye, meaning "always, continually, or ever. This "aye" (pronounced to rhyme with "say") is unrelated to the more familiar "aye" (pronounced to rhyme with "sigh") used as a synonym of "yes."

Examples of nary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 Great white sharks have disappeared from Cape Town, South Africa, with nary a single shark having been spotted over the past 18 months. — Fox News, "Great white sharks have disappeared from South Africa, baffling experts," 29 Aug. 2019 State Treasurer Allison Ball went after Democrats for attacking McConnell but said nary a word about the guy who is leading her ticket. — Joseph Gerth, The Courier-Journal, "Matt Bevin was 'he-who-must-not-be-named' among most Republicans at Fancy Farm," 3 Aug. 2019 If done right, pedestrians would then be able to walk from Campus Martius in the heart of downtown to the RiverWalk with nary a worry about crossing busy streets, but for a couple of narrow ones at Larned and Congress. — John Gallagher, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit needs to put stretch of Jefferson underground for more walkable downtown," 27 July 2019 All around me, people were digging into cast iron pots of hot seafood, both elbows firmly anchored on their tables, with nary a bib or plastic glove in sight. — Soleil Ho, SFChronicle.com, "Alamar’s seafood brings us back to our home shores," 26 July 2019 Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, three of the top 10 NBA talents of the last decade: All gone, with nary a ring to blunt the pain. — Robert Klemko, SI.com, "How One Agent Is Working to Strengthen Diversity in the NFL’s Head Coaching Ranks," 15 July 2019 Since then, Carolina is 24-24 with nary a playoff win and mired in yet another brutal division — one likely to get even tougher with Bruce Arians taking over the Bucs. — Nate Davis, USA TODAY, "Which NFL team is closest to winning its first Super Bowl? Ranking the 12 contenders," 18 June 2019 The darker tone is still here, with nary a singing snowman in sight. — Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge, "The past is not what it seems in the latest Frozen II trailer," 11 June 2019 Collages securely affixed to the wall with nary a tape mark or thumbtack hole in sight. — Hadley Keller, House Beautiful, "A Genius Trick to Hang Art Without a Frame," 16 May 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of nary

1746, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for nary

alteration of ne'er a

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More Definitions for nary

nary

adjective
How to pronounce nary (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of nary

: not one

See the full definition for nary in the English Language Learners Dictionary

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