Etimology
From Middle English now, nou, nu, from Old English nū, from Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu, from Proto-Indo-European *nū (“now”).
adjective
now (not comparable)
Present; current.
(informal) Fashionable; popular; up to date; current.
(archaic, law) At the time the will is written. Used in order to prevent any inheritance from being transferred to a person of a future marriage. Does not indicate the existence of a previous marriage.
Examples
Defects seem as necessary to our now happiness as their Opposites.
The history of the infant colonies teaches us that the country comprised within the limits of the now United States of America was originally patented in the reign of James I., of England, into two portions: that in less than eighty years from that period, the same was again divided into twelve distinct provinces; a thirteenth being after added in the creation of the State of Georgia.
Where in assumpsit for money lent, the defendant pleaded that in an action in which the now defendant was plaintiff, and the now plaintiff was defendant, […] .
Radio 4's continuity announcer said at the end of the show: "As many of you will have noticed, that edition of The Now Show wasn't very now. It was actually last week's programme. Our apologies for that."
I think this band's sound is very now.
Bernard: What does it do?Fran: It's very in.Bernard: You don't know what it is, do you?Fran: It's very now.
Now wife.
adverb
now (not comparable)
At the present time.
(sentential) Used to introduce a point, a qualification of what has previously been said, a remonstration or a rebuke.
Differently from the immediate past; differently from a more remote past or a possible future; differently from all other times.
At the time reached within a narration.
Used to indicate a context of urgency.
(informal) At the present point of a recurring cycle or event.
(obsolete) As 'but now': Very recently; not long ago; up to the present.
Used to address a switching side, or sharp change in attitude from before. (In this usage, now is usually emphasized).
Sometimes; occasionally.
Examples
Now I am six.
Stop that now, Jimmy!
Now, we all want what is best for our children.
Now Jimmy, stop that.
Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
Now I am ready.
We all now want the latest toys for our children.
We all want what is now best for our children.
Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.
Now he remembered why he had come.
He now asked her whether she had made pudding.
The pudding was now ready to be served.
Now listen, we must do something about this.
I always used to do my shopping now, to avoid the rush.
They that but now, for honour and for plate, / Made the sea blush with blood, resign their hate.
Now, you want to protect me. An hour ago, you were mercilessly bullying me!
His face fit his roles: now smiling, now earnest, now glowering, now raging.
conjunction
now
Since, because, in light of the fact; often with that.
Examples
Now all the children have grown up and left, the house is very quiet.
Now that my sister has gotten rid of their cat, we can go to her house this coming Thanksgiving.
We can play football now that the rain has stopped.
Now that you mention it, I am kind of hungry.
Now that we're all here, let's start the meeting.
interjection
now!
Indicates a signal to begin.
Examples
Now! Fire all we've got while the enemy is in reach!
noun
now (usually uncountable, plural nows)
(uncountable) The present time.
(often with "the") The state of not paying attention to the future or the past.
(countable, chiefly in phenomenology) A particular instant in time, as perceived at that instant.
Examples
Now is the right time.
There is no better time than now.
Synonyms: here and now; see also Thesaurus:the present
She is living in the now.
Forever is composed of Nows— / 'T is not a different time, / Except for infiniteness / And latitude of home.
Time is not thrust together and summed up out of nows, but the reverse: with reference to the now we can articulate the stretching out of time always only in specific ways.
Etimology
See know.
verb
now
Misspelling of know.
Examples
I don't now.