Now

How to spell now

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce now

What does now mean?

1. adverbAt the present time or moment.
2. conjunctionUsed to introduce or comment on a statement, often meaning 'given that' or 'as things stand'.

Now in a sentence

• adverb

  The report is due now, so finish it before lunch.

• conjunction

  Now that the contract is signed, the work can begin.

• adverb

  We can pay the deposit now and settle the balance later.

Where does now come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word comes from the Old English nu, which simply meant 'at the present time'. It belongs to a very old family of words that runs across the Germanic languages, such as the Dutch nu and the German nun, and even reaches back to a shared ancestor that also produced the Latin nunc and the Greek nun, both meaning 'now'. Because it has always been a short, heavily used everyday word, its spelling stayed compact and changed very little: the old nu simply gained a 'w' to mark the long vowel sound as English spelling settled. That long history as a core function word explains why it is one of the most stable and recognisable spellings in English. It can act as an adverb of time, but speakers also use it as a connector and even as a noun for the present moment.

How the word is built

• now (a single Old English root meaning 'at the present time'; not built from smaller parts)