▪ I. nor, conj.1
(nɔː(r))
[probably a contraction of nother, like the equivalent OFris. noer for noder.]
A negative conjunction employed as follows:—
I. 1. a. Continuing the force of a negative (as not, never, etc.) attached to some word in the preceding clause, and extending it to the corresponding word which follows.
| 13.. Cursor M. 7361 (Gött.), I here noght of þat iesse tel, Nor his sonis ne him i knaw. a 1400–50 Alexander 316 Þis myȝty god..is of a medill age, Noȝt of ȝouth nor of eld nor ȝerris to many. c 1440 Alph. Tales 6, I may not eate your benys nor your cale. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xiv. (1885) 144 The kynge shalnot be greved be importunite of suytours, nor thai shall..optayne any vnresonable desires. 1538 Starkey England i. iv. 126 Wherfor to pyl theyr cuntreys for thys purpos, ys not just nor resonabul. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 11 She could not heare, nor speake, nor understand. 1622 Wither Philarete (1633) 617 No others high degree, Nor beauteous looke shall change me. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 251/2 It is said of the French that they Speak not as they Write, nor Write as they Speak. 1740 Richardson Pamela I. xxv. 30 Is there no Constable nor Headborough, tho', to take me out of his House? 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. i, We had no revolutions to fear, nor fatigues to undergo. 1821 Scott Pirate Adv., The inhabitants..not possessing arms nor means of resistance. 1870 Gladstone Glean. (1879) IV. 252 Not a vessel, nor a gun, nor a man, were on the ground to prevent their landing. |
† b. Followed by another negative. Obs.
| 13.. Cursor M. 6788 (Gött.), [To] wydw, na child fadirless, Do ȝe na wrang nor na maless. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 1, I haue not ben, nor is, nor neuer schal,..to sei any þing aȝen þe general feiþ. c 1440 Alph. Tales 6, I may not eate your benys.., nor I may not drynk your thyn ale. 1509 Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 298 It is not loked for.., nor none abydynge stroke..falleth vpon them. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 130 No man was called to aunswere, nor no question put vnto any person by the sayd enquest. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. xiii. iv. (1622) 183 He could lay no iust cause against him, nor openly durst not commaund the murdering of his brother. 1668 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 263 Wise..he saith hath not yet bin with him, nor dares not. 1739 Chesterfield Lett. xxv. (1792) I. 92 It requires no rhymes nor no certain number of feet or syllables. a 1774 Goldsm. Hist. Greece I. 224 No skill could obviate, nor no remedy dispel the terrible infection. |
† c. Following upon as{ddd}so. Obs. rare.
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts 29 b, Lyke as the Israelites perceyued not this in Iesus, euen so nor than dyd they vnderstande that in Moyses. 1657 R. Mossom Preacher's Tripartite i. 17 As I look not upon my merit, so nor do thou look upon my demerit. |
2. a. As correlative to a preceding neither, nother, or nouther. (For examples see these words.)
b. Introducing both alternatives. Chiefly poet.
| 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 59 How many pore (which nede nor brake nor bit) Might therwith al..be fedde. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. v. iv. 80 Who by Repentance is not satisfied, Is nor of heauen, nor earth. 1615 Day Festivals xii. 338 Nor Papists with their Miracles, nor Puritans with their Presbytery, shall ever put life into it againe. 1654–66 Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 9 Nor my weakness, nor my tongue..shall ever confess you have any advantage over me. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 393 Nor Bits nor Bridles can his Rage restrain. 1725 Pope Odyss. xv. 478 Now let our compact made Be nor by signal nor by word betray'd. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. i. xiv, Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. iii. 349 But we nor fear his frown, nor trust his smile. 1839–52 Bailey Festus 410 Perfection To imperfection leaves nor choice nor mean. |
3. With omission of neither. a. With preceding or following negative.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 46 Þer preued neuer nane his prik for passing of witt, Plato nor Piktagaras. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop v. xii, Certaynly I nor none other canne give the Jugement. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1613) 41 She concealed her sorrow, nor cause of her sorrow, from no body. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest x, Your father nor nobody else has ever sent after you. |
b. Without other negative expressed.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 144 [He] would sende them no woorde of his affaires,..for he ought their master, nor yet them suche service. 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido v. ii, Though thou nor he will pity me a whit. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 532 The most ignorant proud woman liuing, caring for, nor respecting any but her selfe and hers. 1649 Lovelace Poems 64 Yet Servants knowing Minikin nor Base, Are still allow'd to fiddle with the Case. c 1750 Shenstone Elegy iii. 6 Pageant nor plume distinguish Alcon's bier. 1813 Byron Br. Abydos i. xii, A heart his words nor deeds can daunt. 1827 Jarman Powell's Devises II. 229 It was his will that they, nor either of them, should take any thing under his will. 1872 Tennyson Last Tourn. 203 Great brother, thou nor I have made the world. |
† 4. = or. Obs. rare.
| c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn viii. 32 Blanchardyn..was moche abasshed how nor by what manere he sholde mowe passe hit ouer. 1615 Wadsworth in Bedell Lett. (1624) 7 It could neuer sinke into my braine how..members sound nor vnsound [could be] participant each of other. |
5. Following upon an affirmative clause, or in continuative narration, with the force of neither or and{ddd}not.
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxxxv. 162, I greatly desyre to se the kynge my maister, nor I wyll lye but one nyght in a place, tyll I come there. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 26 To mak hir purgatione that scho was frie of all misrewlle..nor gave na counsall thairto. 1631 May tr. Barclay's Mirr. Mindes i. 39 The whole coast is most sweetly verdant,..nor hardly, is there ground any where more abundantly fruitfull. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 626 A golden tiar Circl'd his Head, nor less his Locks behind..Lay waving round. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 161 His Age and Courage weigh: Nor those alone. 1738 Johnson London 260 Then shall thy friend, nor thou refuse his aid,..forsake his Cambrian shade. 1788 Trifler No. 22. 291 The little creature cried and laid down, nor could all our beating raise it. 1821 Byron Heaven & Earth iii. 673 Away! nor weep! 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxi. 205 Come nor tarry to greet her. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 423 Nor among the friends of Socrates must the jailer be forgotten. |
II. 6. As n. or adj. Computers. (Written in capitals.) A Boolean function of two or more variables that has the value unity if all the variables are zero and is otherwise zero; ‘neither..nor..’. Usu. attrib.
| 1957 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engin. LXXVI. i. 263/1 The transistor nor circuit was introduced because of the desire to have a single logic element which would combine well in logic configurations with a minimum concern for matching and element loading. A nor element has a signal output only if there are no input signals. Ibid., P-n-p and n-p-n transistor nor circuits..cannot be readily intermixed. 1958 [see NAND]. 1969 J. J. Sparkes Transistor Switching iv. 96 For NOR gates the Boolean expression is first reduced to its simplest form containing the product of sums. 1971 J. H. Smith Digital Logic iv. 42 The NOR function is used extensively, especially in resistor–transistor logic systems. 1972 IEEE Trans. Computers XXI. 153/1 Optimal networks consisting of NOR–OR gates (each gate produces the NOR and/or the OR of its inputs) are tabulated for all Boolean functions of three variables. |
▪ II. nor, conj.2 Sc. and dial.
[Of obscure origin: cf. na conj.2]
Than.
| c 1400 Sc. Troy-bk. (Horstm.) ii. 2402 Pirrus was of þat thing richt wo And mor of his grantschire in deid Nor of hime self. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 546, I neid nane airar myne erand nor none of the day. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 133 Thow..beggis mair beir and aitis Nor ony cripill in Karrik land. 1558 Kennedy Compend. Treat. in Wodrow Soc. Misc. (1844) 151 Ar nocht thaye quha sulde gyde the peple mair ignorante nor the simple pepyll self? 1573 Tyrie Refut. in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 15 He apperis mair wicked nor Sathan him self. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. cxliv. 342 So then I see that Christ can triumph in a weaker man nor I. a 1658 Durham Comm. Revelation (1660) i. 5 His Kingly Office extendeth no further nor his Priestly and Prophetical Office. 1792 Burns My Tocher's the Jewel ii, Ye'll crack your credit wi' mae nor me. 1840 Thackeray Catherine iv, You're no better nor a common tramper. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xxx, I know better nor you. 1883 W. Black Shandon Bells xxxii, There'll be more grey nor red in my beard by that time. |
▪ III. † nor, conj.3 Sc. Obs.
[Cf. prec. and na adv.1]
a. In imprecations: = may. b. If..not.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxiv. 32 Nor I be hangit be the nek. Ibid. 77 God..Nor ane stark widdy gar me gaip. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 5039 It maruellis me, He, haueand sic prosperite,..Nor he had infynite plesoure. |
▪ IV. nor, a. Organic Chem.
(nɔː(r))
[f. prec.]
Applied to compounds or groups of compounds conventionally named by adding the prefix nor- to the name of a parent compound, esp. with a prefixed numeral indicating the methyl group lacking or a prefixed capital letter indicating the ring which is contracted as compared with the parent compound.
| 1940 Chem. Abstr. XXXIV. 5455 Diminution from a 6-ring to a 5-ring by loss of C atoms..in rings A, B and C gives rise to the corresponding A-nor, B-nor and C-nor compds. 1946 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. CLXII. 589 The nor, bisnor, and etio homologues of 3,11-dihydroxy-12-ketocholanic acid have been prepared. 1954 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. LXXVI. 4092/2 The efficacy of this 19-nor analog..in human females has been established. 1972 Adv. Steroid Biochem. & Pharmacol. III. 93 Two of the 19-nor steroids, norgestrel and allylestrenol, appear to show differences from norethisterone and lynestrenol. |