Etimology
From Middle English nevere, navere, nævere, from Old English nǣfre (“never”), equivalent to ne + ever.
adverb
never (not comparable)
At no time; on no occasion; in no circumstance.
Not at any other time; not on any other occasion; not previously.
(colloquial) Negative particle (used to negate verbs in the simple past tense; also used absolutely).
Examples
Why should I love this Gentleman? Tis odds / He never will affect me;
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.
"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.
Never speak of the symptoms of your patient in his presence, unless questioned by the doctor, whose orders you are always to obey implicitly.
"You don't believe the Soviet Union is going to reduce its defense budget, do you?" Boggs asked.Premier Chou didn't wait for the translator to finish. "Never, never, never," he replied in perfect English.
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: see Thesaurus:never
There is no jewel, be it of never so rich a price, which I set before this jewel: I mean your love.
"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!"
I never saw such an infatuated man.
The police say I stole the car, but I never did it.
You said you were going to mow the lawn today. – I never!
"You're never going to break in?""This instant, if you'll, help me; in five or ten minutes, if you won't."
Related words
antonyms
all the time
always
consistently
constantly
continually
continuously
ever
interjection
never
A statement of defiance