▪ I. now, adv., conj., n.1, and a.
(naʊ)
Forms: 1–4 nu, 1 nuu, 2–3 nv, 4 new, nw, 9 Sc. noo; 3–6 nou (4–5 -e), 3 no, 3–5 nov, 3– now, 4–6 nowe.
[OE. n{uacu}; the same form occurs in all the older Teutonic languages, and corresponds to Skr. nu, n{uacu}, Gr. νυ, νῦν, L. nunc.]
I. adv.
1. a. At the present time or moment.
Sometimes strengthened by even, just, or right (for examples see these words).
| c 825 Vesp. Ps. xi. 6 Fore..ᵹeamrunge ðearfena nu ic arisu, cwið dryhten. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. ii. v. 86 Þonne næron naþer gode ne þa ne nu. 971 Blickl. Hom. 25 Wa eow þe nu hlihaþ, forþon ᵹe eft wepað on ecnesse. a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia IX. 264 Fela ðinga ðe ic nu ᵹenæmnian ne can. c 1200 Ormin 2683 Ȝho iss nu & æfre beoþ Heȝhesst of alle shaffte. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3918 To lond moab druȝen he so, ðor nu is a burȝ, ierico. a 1300 Cursor M. 8094 Sir, sauued be þou nov and ai. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 24 In þe laste eelde þat now is, þat is clepid myddis of ȝeeris. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 549 Be hit knowe to them that be now and to come. 1475 Paston Lett. III. 130 Other labor that I have takyn on me nowe in to Fraunce warde. 1530 Palsgr. 423/2 Fyve pounde you have all redy receyved, but what is behynde nowe onpayed. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 170 But now I will commit it to thy descretion and judgement. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 58 The..little Island, as then called Aualon, now Glastenbury. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 95 Who names not now with honour patient Job? 1712 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 26 Mar., Now they don't distinguish between a cow and a Christian. 1784 Cowper Task v. 90 Neither grub, nor root, nor earth-nut, now Repays their labour more. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. i. 2 My master is just going to dinner, and can't see anybody now. 1852 M. Arnold Empedocles ii. (1906) 109 They will be our lords, as they are now. 1896 Law Times C. 408/1 The salary of a Chancery taxing master is now only {pstlg}1500 a year. |
b. Under the present circumstances; in view of these facts.
| 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 470 Thair is na schip that wil the now ressaue. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 249 Being mad before, how doth she now for wits? Ibid. 253 Now which way shall she turn? what shall she say? 1710 S. Centlivre Bickerstaff's Burying i. i, I warrant you think to be an Ambral now. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1796) III. 140, I now plainly perceive the reason. 1854 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. v, I can believe anything now; I can believe now that you could sell little Harry. |
c. Phr. now-it-can-be-told, used attrib. to designate a book, story, etc., which reveals previously classified or unknown facts.
| 1932 N.Y. Times Book Rev. 7 Feb. 15/3 Colonel Reeve's book belongs in the now-it-can-be-told class—and he has a lot to tell. 1948 Q. Wright in J. Towster Political Power in the U.S.S.R. p. ix, Correspondents..have produced books of the ‘now-it-can-be-told’ variety. |
d. In colloq. expressions of the type ― now (and) ― later.
| 1965 N. Freeling Criminal Conversation i. vii. 44 Van der Valk the tally-boy; live now and pay later. 1970 Guardian 18 Mar. 19/2 Profit now and pay later. 1973 P.O. Telephone Directory (§101 London area A–D) 4/1 Telephone credit cards. Talk now—pay later. |
2. In the time directly following on the present moment; immediately, forthwith.
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives xxvi. 249 Nu ic sceall ᵹeendian earmlicum deaþe. c 1290 St. James 29 in S. Eng. Leg. l. 34 ‘Nov,’ he seide, ‘we schullen i-seo ȝwat Iemes þe mai don here’. 1382 Wyclif I Sam. ii. 16 Nay, forsothe nowe thow shalt ȝyue; ellis I shal tak bi forse. a 1400–50 Alexander 212 Now sall ȝe here How he kide him in þe courete. c 1450 Holland Howlat 151, I sall not ȝow richt now thar names in ane. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virtue Prol. ii, But at auenture I wyll now wryte. 1682 [see just adv. 7 c]. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 333, I am in a hurry, and must go now. 1898 F. Montgomery Tony 11 The train would start now. |
3. In the time directly preceding the present moment. Now only in just now or (poet.) even now. Also † now (a) late, now of late, recently.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. v. §iii, Ymb þæt ilce þu ᵹiddodest nu hwene ær. c 1055 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 298 Heo wunað on ælcum tacne swa we nu ᵹerehton. Ibid. 304 Þa þing þe we nu handledon. 1435 Wars Eng. in France (Rolls) II. 576 The king shulde take appointement offred now late unto hym at Arras. c 1440 York Myst. i. 43 Þat lufly lorde..That vs thus mighty has made, þat nowe was righte noghte. 1533 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 353 Whose Auncestors of longe tyme hadd the same untill nowe of late. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. lxxxv. 522 If wee alleage It is not nowalate that this thing came vp. 1601 Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) iii. 673 As wee said euen now. 1633– [see just adv. 7 b]. 1703, 1820 [see even adv. 6 b]. 1881 Rossetti House of Life vi, Even now my lady's lips did play With these my lips such consonant interlude. |
4. At this time; at the time spoken of or referred to.
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts 58 For his mother, beeing now a widow, was a Iewe borne. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 349 Now was she just before him as he sat. 1611 Bible Mark iv. 37 The waues beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 556 Swift Rivers are with sudden Ice constrain'd;..An Hostry now for Waggons. 1758 S. Hayward Serm. xvi. 496 What season more important than the hour of death? Every thing now conspires to fill the soul with gloom. 1795 W. Roscoe Lorenzo de Medici I. i. 57 Cosmo now approached the period of his mortal existence. 1845 Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 25 The assurance he had at first displayed was now succeeded by an air of embarrassment. 1874 Bancroft Footpr. Time viii. 201 The war was now practically concluded. |
5. † a. as now, at this time, just now. Obs.
| c 1386 [see as adv. 34]. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 60 Of thi wittes five I wole as now nomore schryve, Bot only of these ilke tuo. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 292 It is sufficiand ynouche to me to tell as now that [etc.]. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xliii. 144 Shew me for what cause ye haue as now sent for me. 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido i. i, Instruct us under what good heaven We breathe as now. |
† b. now by dawe, = now-a-days. Obs. rare.
| c 1327 Pol. Songs (Camden) 326 Everich man nu bi dawe may sen that thus hit is. a 1450 Myrc 5 So faren prestes now by dawe. |
† c. now about, about this time. Obs. rare.
| 1713 S. Sewall Diary 11 June, Now about the Govr. procures a Letter to be written. 1721 Ibid. 23 Jan., Now about I gave his Excellency a Ring. |
6. a. now and again, anon, † eft, † now, at one time and another, from time to time.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 422 Eueremoore as she stood She swowneth now and now for lakke of blood. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 246 And in the Marches now and eft,..He wroghte such knihthode there. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 570 The seed of mirte..Lete yeue hem now & now for chaunge of mete. 1470–85 Malory Arthur vi. xviii. 211 Euer now and now came alle the Knyghtes home that sir Turquyn hadde prysoners. a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 171 God amongst the Pagans did,..now and anon, reveale the mysterie of Christ Jesus. 1884 M. E. Braddon Ishmael III. x. 217 Seized now and again with that terrible cough of hers. |
b. now and (also † or) then, occasionally, fitfully, intermittently, at intervals. † Also with by.
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) O viij, Sometyme on the daie, and nowe and than by nyght, they would walke abrode. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 211 marg., Familiar friends vse ieasting nowe and then, in their letters. 1621 I. C. in T. Bedford's Sin unto Death A j, The Apothecaries Glasse or Gally-pot..being emptied by now and then of a little. 1623 Byfield Expos. Coloss. ii. v. 16 Tis not enough to doe good now or then, by flashes. 1663 Gerbier Counsel g 2 b, This manual doth both now and then proffer a word or two to cherish the Readers patience. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 130 ¶3 These Gypsies now and then foretold very strange things. 1761 Mrs. Sheridan Sidney Bidulph I. 14 The strictness of her notions..now-and-then gave a tincture of severity to her actions. 1802 Wordsw. ‘When I have borne in Memory’, What wonder, if a Poet, now and then..Felt for thee as a Lover. 1890 Spectator 11 Oct. 474/2 She never took up, except by moments now and then, the legitimate side. |
| attrib. 1762 Lloyd St. James's Mag. 50 Such now-and-then negligences, incidental to all poems of length. 1775 S. J. Pratt Liberal Opin. lxxxvii. (1783) III. 147, I have set you down as a now-and-then friend. |
c. So every now and then (or again).
| 1720 C'tess Cowper Diary (1864) 152 The King cast an angry Look that Way every now and then. 1769 Burke Late St. Nation Wks. II. 13 It is piteously doleful, nodding every now and then towards dulness. 1802 Beddoes Hygëia ii. 42 A sentence which we physicians are doomed, every now and then, to hear. 1865 [see again 4 b]. 1868 F. E. Paget Lucretia 216 Still, except every now and then, at rare intervals, it was polished. 1883 [see every 1 f]. |
7. a. now{ddd}now, used to introduce antithetical clauses, phrases, or words.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 24545 Nu i lig and no i stand, Bunden þus in balful band. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 23 Now hier now ther, now to now fro, Now up now down, this world goth so. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xiv. 65 Riȝt sodaynely es þare chaungeyng of þe aer, nowe grete calde and now grete hete. c 1491 Chast. Goddes Chyld. 21 Her thoughtes ben full chaungable now here now there, now so, now thus, like to winde. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xi. 25 The swerde consumeth now one now another. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 79 It is now abiding vpon the earth now in the waters. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 258 Now vsed in this sence, now in that. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 171 The flying Chariot kindles in the Course: And now a-low; and now aloft they fly. 1741 Richardson Pamela I. 21 In this Quandary, now considering, now crying, and not knowing what to do, I pass'd the Time. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xxvii, Now low, now high, The pennon sunk and rose. 1883 Stevenson Silverado Sq. 9 A great variety of oaks stood, now severally, now in a becoming grove. |
b. So now{ddd}then, now{ddd}and again, etc.
| 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. v. 10 Now, one [is] the better: then, another best. 1600 ― A.Y.L. iii. ii. 437 Now weepe for him, then spit at him. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 5 [The weather is] so vncertaine, that now you shall haue a quiet breath and gale, and suddenly an vnexpected violent gust. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 634 Now [he] shaves with level wing the Deep, then soares. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 60 ¶8 His walk was now quick, and again slow. |
8. In phr. now or never.
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 442 b, Therfore thought they now, or els never, y{supt} God was on theyr side. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 331 Now Yorke, or neuer, steele thy fearfull thoughts And change misdoubt to resolution. 1648 Crashaw Steps to Temple Poems (1904) 75 Now Lord, or never, they'l beleeve on thee. a 1658 Cleveland Rustic Rampant Wks. (1687) 459 Now or never for the Liberty of the Subject. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 38 ¶6 Now or never is the Time. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xix, ‘Come off, now or never,’ cried Amyas. 1860 Motley Netherl. IV. 170 Taking the ground that now or never was the time for driving the Spaniards..out of the Netherlands. |
II. 9. a. In sentences expressing a command or request, with the purely temporal sense weakened or effaced. In later use also with ellipse of verb.
| c 825 Vesp. Ps. ii. 7 And nu, cyningas, onᵹeotað. a 900 Cynewulf Crist 243 Cum nu, siᵹores weard,..& þine miltse her arfæst ywe. 971 Blickl. Hom. 19 Cleopian we nu in eᵹlum mode & inneweardre heortan. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 17 Andswere me nu, þu un-ȝesælie saule. c 1275 Passion Our Lord 1 in O.E. Misc. 37 I-hereþ nv one lutele tale þat ich eu wille telle. a 1300 Cursor M. 11694 Rise vp, he said, and right þe nu. a 1400 Pistill of Susan 122 Aspieþ nou specialy þe ȝates bene sperde. c 1500 Melusine 251 Fayre lordes, now lightly on horsback. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 124 Now faire befall your maske. 1610 ― Temp. iii. i. 15 Alas, now pray you Worke not so hard..; pray now rest your selfe. 1617 Fletcher Mad Lover iv. i, Now your Counsels, For I am at my wits end. 1735 Berkeley Free-think. Mathem. Wks. 1871 III. 316 Now, in the name of truth, I entreat you to tell what this moment is. a 1814 Intrigues of a Day iii. i. in New Brit. Theatre I. 116 Mrs. H. Oh! I insist upon hearing. Sir J. Nay, now, my dear cousin. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. vi, No humbug, now, about my boyhood! Ibid., Come now, I don't believe [etc.]. 1893 Sir G. Chesney Lesters ii. xxi, ‘Now, Peter, behave yourself’; and again the threatening crop was raised. |
b. So now then. (Freq. in mod. use.)
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) xxxiii. 8 Fandiað nu þonne; onᵹite ᵹe þæt Drihten is swyðe sefte. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 1970 Now thanne, yower puer blyssyng gravnt vs tylle! c 1500 Melusine 238 Now thenne, noble Cousyne, seace your wepyng. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Or, Or {cced}a, now then, or goe to. a 1700 Dryden (J.), Now then be all thy weighty cares away. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xix, ‘Keep your eyes open,’ said Wardle... ‘Now then.’ 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xx, ‘Now, then,’ said Amyas, ‘to breakfast’. |
10. a. Used to introduce an important or noteworthy point in an argument or proof, or in a series of statements. Also † now then.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xlix. 376 Nu ðonne,..nu is to onᵹietonne æt hu micelre scylde ða bioð befangne. c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives xxvi. 272 Nu cwæð se halᵹa Beda, þe ðas boc ᵹedihte, þæt hit nan wundor nys. a 1240 Sawles Warde in O.E. Hom. I. 257 Nu is riht þenne þat we demen us seolf eauer unmihtie to werien ant to witen us. 1340 Ayenb. 53 Nou behoueþ to habbe tuo mesures, ane little..and anoþre guode and large. 1426 Audelay Poems 4 Nou ȝif a woman maryd schal be, Anoon sche schal be boȝt and sold. 1525 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 75 Nowe, Sir, as God hathe endued your Grace with Christen courauge [etc.]. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xix. §2 Now the principal thing required in a witness is fidelity. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. iii. 26 Now if thou wert a Poet, I might haue some hope thou didst feigne. 1715 tr. Gregory's Astron. (1726) I. 498 Now, the Observation may be made very commodiously, after the following..Method. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Parish vii, Now, this was bad enough, occurring as it did three times a week on the average, but this was not all. 1881 Jowett Thucyd. I. 150 Now the Acharnians are famous for their skill in slinging. |
b. Inserted parenthetically, or at the end of a clause, with similar force.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xviii. §3 Þeah he nu maran wilniᵹe, he ne mæᵹ furðum þæt forðbringan. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 977 Þis is nu þe derfschipe of þi dusi onsware. c 1230 Hali Meid. 3 Hwat is nu þis lare þat tu nimest se deopliche? 13.. Cursor M. 3589 (Gött), Elde es nou a selcuth thing, For all it ȝernis þat er ȝing. |
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones v. vi, I am sure you cannot be in earnest now. 1760 S. Fielding Ophelia II. iii, There's a wise young woman, now! 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xv. 130, I should be glad now..to employ you,..but [etc.]. |
11. Used elliptically in various ways, esp. at the beginning of a clause.
how now?: see how adv. 4 b.
| c 1450 Merlin 501 ‘Now trewly,’ seide she, ‘that lady were nothinge wise’. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 75 Nowe to M. Heskins Collections. 1592 Lyly Midas iv. i, Now Nymphes, what say you? 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. iii. 98 Doe you heare my Lord?..What now? 1653 Walton Angler ii, Now, now, Ringwood has him. 1680 Otway Orphan ii. iv, Now by my Father's Soul, the Witch was honest. 1764 Foote Mayor of G. ii. i, Now for it, Sneak; the enemy's at hand. 1774 M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. 59 The Moment the Star touches the same Side of the Plumb-line as before, call out, Now. 1864 J. H. Newman Apol. i, And now as to Dr. Whately. I owe him a great deal. 1898 Doyle Trag. Korosko v, That very morning..how pleasant was life!.. And now! |
12. a. As conj. Since, seeing that; as{ddd}now.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxx. §1 Forhwy þe haten dysiᵹe men mid leasre stemne wuldor, nu ðu nane neart? 971 Blickl. Hom. 123 And nu þeos haliᵹe tid englum þus healice..to blisse wearþ, hwæt þonne [etc.]. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 143 And now persones han parceyued that Freres parte with hem, Þise possessioneres preche and depraue freres. c 1400 Gamelyn 232 Now I am older woxe, thou schalt me finde a more [shrew]. 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido iii. i, æneas. I understand, your highness sent for me. Dido. No; but, now thou art here, tell me. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. iii. 15 Now they are oppress'd with trauaile, they..cannot vse such vigilance As when they are fresh. 1702 De Foe Shortest Way w. Dissenters 137 There are some People in the World, who now they are unpearcht,..begin with æsop's Cock, to preach up Peace. 1889 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xli, We'd as good as got a free pardon.., now the police was away. |
b. So now that.
| 1530 Palsgr. 645/1, I have notted my heed nowe that sommer is come. 1595 Shakes. John iii. iv. 180 'Tis wonder⁓full, What may be wrought.., Now that their soules are topfull of offence. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows v. 406 Now that you have brought me forth..leave me not to shift for my selfe. 1676 G. Towerson Decalogue 383 There is not the same reason, now that the world is peopled [etc.]. 1844 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 30 Now that the fruit is plucked,..I hold that Eden is impregnable. 1876 World V. 9 Is there no new field.., now that the schoolmaster is so fearfully and wonderfully abroad? |
III. 13. a. With preps., as by now, ere now, for now, or now, till now, unto now, now.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter lxx. 17 Oð nu ic forðsecᵹu wundur ðin. c 1200 Ormin 14066 And tu þe gode win till nu Aȝȝ hafesst hidd and haldenn. a 1300 Cursor M. 12800 Es þou helias halden til nu, Crist or prophet, quam to bu? c 1450 Ibid. 17785 (Laud), Ye wold nevir yt leve or now. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione i. xxiv. 35 If þou haddist lyued unto now in worshipes & lustes of þe worlde. c 1500 Melusine 121 But as for now I shall reste of hym and I shal retourne there. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 1062 Her eyes are mad that they have wept till now. 1619 Fletcher Mons. Thomas i. iii, No word of visitation, as ye love me, And for now Ile leave ye. 1860 Thirlwall Rem. (1877) I. 395 Without this, she would have fallen ere now under the blows. 1885–94 R. Bridges Eros. & Psyche Feb. iv, She is not hence by now six miles at most. |
b. from now (forth, forthward, forward).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3758 In dew and gress sere o þorth Sal be þi blissing fra no forth. Ibid. 10976 Þou sal be dumb fra nu, Til þat he be born. c 1400 Hampole's Wks. I. 221 And þou sall lufe gastely ilk a mane, and flee fra now forthwarde to lufe fleschly. 1503 Surtees Misc. (1890) 30 John Mitteley & his heires frome now forthe shall wall up..the utter west syde of his swynstye. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xvi, I could live very well from now till Doomsday without [etc.]. 1890 Spectator 10 May 651/2 The Gladstonians could talk with ease on one line of one clause from now till Christmas. |
14. a. As n. The present time. Also Comb.
Gower uses time now in the same sense.
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 32 To peise now with that beforn, The chaf is take for the corn. Ibid. III. 346 Ensamples thou hast many on Of now and ek of time gon. 1549 Strype Eccl. Mem. 431 The tyme is tourned: then was then and now is now. 1607 Shakes. Timon ii. ii. 152 Though you heare now (too late), yet nowes a time. 1631 Celestina vii. 97 Now is now, and then is then; when time serves, we will follow your counsell. 1655 Fuller Serm. 29 Now is an atome, it will puzzle the skill of an angell to divide. 1854 Patmore Angel in Ho. i. ii. x, Where Now and Then are no more twain. 1861 Angus Serm. 43 Base and profligate now-wasters. Ibid. 44 It is only a make-believe of happiness which does not dwell in now. |
b. So with the or this.
| 1633 Ford Broken Hrt. iv. i, Now, uncle, now; this Now is now too late. 1685 Dryden Threnodia 28 With scarce a breathing space betwixt, This now becalmed, and perishing the next. 1713 Rowe Jane Shore iii, This present now Some matters of the State detain our leisure. 1771 Wesley Wks. (1872) V. 392 Enjoy the very, very now, by enjoying Him ‘whose years fail not’. 1820 Scott Monast. xxxii, It must be done this very now; or it may never be done. 1851 G. Brimley Ess. 183 Plant the great hereafter in the now. |
15. a. A present point or moment of time.
| 1630 Drummond of Hawthornden Flowers of Sion Poems (1856) 179 Still is the same thy Day and Yesterday An undivided Now. 1692 Dryden Eleonora 306 We can scarcely say she died; For but a now did heaven and earth divide. 1751 Harris Hermes Wks. (1841) 146 If a point or now were extended, each of them would contain within itself infinite..other nows. 1801 Southey Thalaba i. xxviii, Time is not here, nor days, nor months, nor years, An everlasting now of solitude! 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit. Wks. (Bohn) III. 71 An everlasting Now reigns in nature. |
b. With possessive pronouns.
| a 1668 Sir W. Waller Div. Medit. (1839) 146 In this my day, or rather in this my now. a 1711 Ken Preparatives Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 7, I oft made solemn vows To consecrate to God my Nows. c 1859 Lowell Ode to Happiness 49 Man ever with his Now at strife. |
IV. attrib. and Comb.
16. In attributive or adjectival use: Present; of the present time. (Very common in the 17th cent.)
| 1444 Rolls of Parlt. V. 75/1 The estate and possession of the saide nowe Maistur and Brethern. 1486 in Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 262 Dame Kateryn my now wief. 1565 Child-Marriages 136 John Olton decessid, father to the nowe plaintiff. 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. iii. xv, Thise Irish, sometime Spanish Scotts, of whence our now-Scotts bee. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 168 Their now surcease from calling this vsurpate authority in question. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 3 The Latin..(of which the now French, Spanish, and Italian are several off-springs and derivations). a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 357 His second son, the now Earl of Rochester. 1793 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 147 The dreadful treatment of the now king. 1824 Byron Def. Transf. ii. iii. 41 His now escape may furnish A future miracle. 1875 Hannah W. Smith Secr. Happy Life iv. 47 He has to come to the now belief, and say by faith, ‘My sins are now forgiven’. |
(b) Revived in adjectival use: modern, fashionable, up-to-date, ‘with it’.
| 1963 New Yorker 8 June 72 A black crepe dress..a now-and-future shaping of pebbly acetate-and-rayon crepe. 1967 Time 7 Apr. 20 The more mature of the unmarried in the Now Generation say that, far from promoting promiscuity, the pills impose a sense of responsibility. 1967 Listener 2 Nov. 564/2 ‘Drag’, of course, is very now (as the copy-writers are saying). 1968 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 28 Dec. 18 Bullitt, I find, is completely typical of the ‘now’ look in American movies—a swift-moving, constantly shifting surface that suggests rather than reveals depths. 1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 255 Even a poet as now as Dylan has two kinds of female character in his imagery. 1972 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 27 May 18/2 Dig the now scene. 1973 E. Bullins Theme is Blackness 167 Everybody in our integrated circle of mod people is with it, man. We're the Now Crowd. |
17. Comb. a. With pa. pples., as now-accumulated, now-borne, now-cantoned, now fallen, now-forgotten, now neglected, etc.
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. ii. 845 When valiant Romans warr'd Victoriously, on the (now-Canton'd) Suisses. 1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. iii. 186 Whose Ceremonie Shall seeme expedient on the now borne briefe. 1617 A. Newman Pleas. Vis. 20 Where may my now-lost honours be? 1725 Pope Odyss. xiii. 398 Whose now-neglected altars, in thy reign, Blush'd with the blood of sheep and oxen slain. 1785 A. Seward Let. 30 Mar. (1811) I. 53 Mr. Warton demonstrates, that the general plan of L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, was suggested to Milton by a now-forgotten work of one Burton. 1802–12 Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. Wks. 1827 I. 583 The now-accumulated stock of experience. 1865 Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 354 The position once borne by the now⁓fallen fronds. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 132/2 Mere attacks on salesmanship are confusing..when these now-forgotten assumptions are missed. |
b. With pres. pples., as now-declining, now-existing, now-passing, now-waning; and vbl. ns., as now-being.
| 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. x. 252 Such immortall men As this now-waning world shall hardly heare agen. 1830 I. Taylor Unitarianism 81 The ‘stolid fanaticism’ of this now-passing time. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. xiv. (1873) 297 A great bed of now-existing shells. 1854 Card. Wiseman Fabiola i. x, Looking at the now-declining moon. 1876 Whitney Sights & Ins. vi. 69 It is full of presence..of now⁓being. |
c. With adjs., as now-big, now-full, now-Roman, etc.
| 1625 [see novelty n. 2]. 1659 W. Brough Sacred Principles Title-p., The doctrine of the Church of England, as differing from the now-Roman. 1660 Speech to Gen. Monk 1 Faile not her now-bigg hopes. 1817 Keatinge Trav. II. 96 The brightness of the now-full moon. |
Hence now v.1 (nonce-use.)
| 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler 52 Good Casuists would case it, and case it,..now it, and then it, punctually. |
▪ II. † now, n.2
obs. Sc. variant of noll.
| 15.. Christs Kirk xviii. in Bann. MS. 287 Thair durst nocht ten cum him to tak, So nowit he thair nowis. a 1585 Polwart Flyting 551 Athort his nitty now Ilke louse lyes linkand like a large lint bow. 1721 Kelly Sc. Prov. 133 He had need to have a heal Pow, That calls his Neighbour Nitty Know. |
▪ III. now, v.1
see now adv.
▪ IV. † now, v.2 Sc. Obs.—1
[Perh. a var. of noll: see Jam. and E.D.D.]
trans. To beat, pummel.
| 15.. [see now n.2] |
▪ V. now
obs. Sc. form of new a.