Etimology
From Middle English no, noo, na, a reduced form of none, noon, nan (“none, not any”) used before consonants (compare a to an), from Old English nān (“none, not any”), from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz (“not any”, literally “not one”), equivalent to ne (“not”) + a. Cognate with Scots nae (“no, not any, none”), Old Frisian nān, nēn ("no, not any, none"), Saterland Frisian naan, neen (“no, not any, none”), North Frisian nian (“no, not any, none”), Old Dutch nēn ("no, not any, none"; > Dutch neen (“no”)), Old Norse neinn (“no, not any, none”). Compare also Old Saxon nigēn ("not any"; > Low German nen), Old Dutch nehēn (Middle Dutch negheen/negeen, Dutch geen), West Frisian gjin, Old High German nihein (> German kein). More at no, one.
determiner
no
Not any.
Hardly any.
Not any possibility or allowance of (doing something).
Not (a); not properly, not really; not fully.
Examples
Antonyms: any, some
no one
There is no water left.
No hot dogs were sold yesterday.
No geese were at the lake.
No two people are the same.
There was no score at the end of the first period.
Antonyms: quite, some
We'll be finished in no time at all.
Fifty pounds for this is no money, really.
No smoking
There's no stopping her once she gets going.
My mother's no fool.
Working nine to five every day is no life.
No geese have blue beaks.
Etimology
From Middle English no, na, from Old English nā, nō (“no, not, not ever, never”), from Proto-Germanic *nai (“never”), *ne (“not”), from Proto-Indo-European *ne, *nē, *nēy (negative particle), equivalent to Old English ne (“not”) + ā, ever, always. Cognate with Scots na (“no”), Saterland Frisian noa (“no”), West Frisian né (“no”), nea (“never”), Dutch nee (“no”), Low German nee (“no”), German nie (“never”), dialectal German nö (“no”), Danish nej (“no”), Swedish nej (“no”), Icelandic nei (“no”). More at nay.
adverb
no (not comparable)
(with following adjective) not, not at all
(without adjective, now Scotland, informal) not
Examples
It is a less physical kind of torture, but no less gruesome.
You’re no better than a common thief.
Look no further than one's nose
This is no different from what we've been doing all along.
This thing is no good.
The teacher’s decision was no fair.
I just want to find out whether she's coming or no.
AS the Devil is not so Black as he is Painted, so neither does he appear in so many Shapes as we make for him; we Dress him up in more Suits of Cloaths, and more Masquerade Habits, than ever he wore; and I question much, if he was to see the Pictures and Figures which we call Devil, whether he would know himself by some of them or no.
preposition
no
without
like
(colloquial, usually humorous) not, does not, do not, etc.
Related words
synonyms
See also Thesaurus:no
coordinate terms
(Expression of negation): way
noun
no (plural noes or nos)
a negating expression; an answer that shows disagreement, denial, refusal, or disapproval
a vote not in favor, or opposing a proposition
Examples
Q: I'll answer any ten questions that call for a yes or a no.
The workers voted on whether to strike, and there were thirty "yeses" and two "nos".
Related words
synonyms
nope
nay
antonyms
yes
yea
aye
Etimology
Variant of No., from the scribal abbreviation for Latin numero (“in number, to the number of”).
adverb
no (not comparable)
(archaic) Alternative form of No.
noun
no (plural nos)
Alternative form of No.