1. Home
  2. Scrabble Dictionary. Word Meaning and Points

Nonce in Scrabble and Meaning

Lookup Word Points and Definitions

What does nonce mean? Is nonce a Scrabble word?

How many points in Scrabble is nonce worth? nonce how many points in Words With Friends? What does nonce mean? Get all these answers on this page.

Scrabble® and Words with Friends® points for nonce

See how to calculate how many points for nonce.

Is nonce a Scrabble word?

Yes. The word nonce is a Scrabble US word. The word nonce is worth 7 points in Scrabble:

N1O1N1C3E1

Is nonce a Scrabble UK word?

Yes. The word nonce is a Scrabble UK word and has 7 points:

N1O1N1C3E1

Is nonce a Words With Friends word?

Yes. The word nonce is a Words With Friends word. The word nonce is worth 10 points in Words With Friends (WWF):

N2O1N2C4E1

Our tools

Valid words made from Nonce

Jump to...

Results

5-letter words (2 found)

CONNE,NONCE,

4-letter words (5 found)

CONE,CONN,NEON,NONE,ONCE,

3-letter words (5 found)

CON,ECO,EON,NON,ONE,

2-letter words (5 found)

EN,NE,NO,OE,ON,

1-letter words (1 found)

E,

You can make 18 words from nonce according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

All 5 letters words made out of nonce

nonce onnce nnoce nnoce onnce nonce nocne oncne ncone cnone ocnne conne nncoe nncoe ncnoe cnnoe ncnoe cnnoe oncne nocne ocnne conne ncone cnone nonec onnec nnoec nnoec onnec nonec noenc onenc neonc enonc oennc eonnc nneoc nneoc nenoc ennoc nenoc ennoc onenc noenc oennc eonnc neonc enonc nocen oncen ncoen cnoen ocnen conen noecn onecn neocn enocn oencn eoncn nceon cneon necon encon cenon ecnon ocenn coenn oecnn eocnn ceonn econn nnceo nnceo ncneo cnneo ncneo cnneo nneco nneco nenco ennco nenco ennco nceno cneno necno encno cenno ecnno nceno cneno necno encno cenno ecnno oncen nocen ocnen conen ncoen cnoen onecn noecn oencn eoncn neocn enocn ocenn coenn oecnn eocnn ceonn econn nceon cneon necon encon cenon ecnon

Note: these 'words' (valid or invalid) are all the permutations of the word nonce. These words are obtained by scrambling the letters in nonce.

Definitions and meaning of nonce

nonce

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: nŏns, IPA(key): /nɒns/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /nɑns/
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /nɔns/
  • Rhymes: -ɒns

Etymology 1

From Middle English nonse, nones, a rebracketing of Middle English to þen anes, for þen anes (to/for the once (i.e. the one occasion or instance)), from the dative singular neuter of þe. The cryptography sense is commonly said to be a contraction of number used once, although this is probably incorrect.

Noun

nonce (plural nonces)

  1. The one or single occasion; the present reason or purpose (now only in for the nonce).
    That will do for the nonce, but we'll need a better answer for the long term.
  2. (lexicography) A nonce word.
    I had thought that the term was a nonce, but it seems as if it's been picked up by other authors.
  3. (cryptography) A value constructed so as to be unique to a particular message in a stream, in order to prevent replay attacks.
    • 1999, Network Working Group, RFC 2617 – HTTP Authentication: Basic and Digest Access Authentication, The Internet Society, page 22:
      The information gained by the eavesdropper would permit a replay attack, but only with a request for the same document, and even that may be limited by the server's choice of nonce.
Derived terms
  • for the nonce
  • nonce borrowing
  • nonce word
Translations

Adjective

nonce (not comparable)

  1. One-off; produced or created for a single occasion or use. Denoting something occurring once.

Etymology 2

1975. Unknown, derived from British criminal slang. Several origins have been proposed; possibly derived from dialectal nonce, nonse (“stupid, worthless individual”) (but this cannot be shown to predate nonce "child-molester" and is likely a toned-down usage of the same insult), or Nance, nance (“effeminate man, homosexual”), from nancy or nancyboy. The rhyme with ponce has also been noted.

As prison slang also said to be an acronym for "Not On Normal Communal Exercise" (Stevens 2012), but this is likely a backronym.

Noun

nonce (plural nonces)

  1. (British, Ireland, derogatory) A sex offender, especially one who is guilty of sexual offences against children. [1975]
    • 1989 "assorted nonces, ponces and murderers, 'the worst men in the world' [...] on the nonce wing, where the child-killers, molesters and various perverts have to be protected from the other prisoners." (New Statesman, New Society, Volume 2, Statesman & Nation Publishing Company Limited)
  2. (by extension) A pedophile.
  3. (British, Ireland, prison slang, derogatory) A police informer, one who betrays a criminal enterprise [2000]
    Synonyms: see snitch
  4. (British, Ireland, slang, derogatory) A stupid or worthless person. [2002]
    Shut it, ya nonce!
Translations

References

  • T. Dalzell and T. Victor (eds.), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: J-Z, Taylor & Francis (2006), p. 1381.
  • Alisa Stevens, Offender Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Communities, Routledge (2012), p. 174.

French

Etymology

Borrowed (with phonetic adaptations) from Italian nunzio, itself borrowed from Latin nuntius (“messenger”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nɔ̃s/

Noun

nonce m (plural nonces)

  1. nuncio

Further reading

  • “nonce”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

  • conne

Source: wiktionary.org