nor

¹

[nawr, ner]

conjunction

1. (used in negative phrases, especially after neither, to introduce the second member in a series, or any subsequent member).

   Neither he nor I will be there. They won't wait for you, nor for me, nor for anybody.

2. (used to continue the force of a negative, as not, no, never, etc., occurring in a preceding clause).

   He left and I never saw him again, nor did I regret it.

3. (used after an affirmative clause, or as a continuative, in the sense ofand not ).

   They are happy, nor need we worry.

4. Older Use.,  than.

5. Archaic.,  (used without a preceding neither, the negative force of which is understood).

   He nor I was there.

6. Archaic.,  (used instead of neither as correlative to a followingnor ).

   Nor he nor I was there.

NOR

²

[nawr]

noun

1. a Boolean operator that returns a positive result when both operands are negative.

nor-

³

1. a combining form used in the names of chemical compounds which are the normal or parent forms of the compound denoted by the base words.

   l-norepinephrine.

nor.

⁴

abbreviation

1. north.

2. northern.

Nor.

⁵

abbreviation

1. Norman.

2. North.

3. Northern.

4. Norway.

5. Norwegian.

nor

¹

/ nə, nɔː /

conjunction

1. (used to join alternatives) and not

   neither measles nor mumps

2. (and) not … either

   they weren't talented — nor were they particularly funny

3. dialect,  than

   better nor me

4. poetic,  neither

   nor wind nor rain

nor-

²

combining form

1. indicating that a chemical compound is derived from a specified compound by removal of a group or groups

   noradrenaline

2. indicating that a chemical compound is a normal isomer of a specified compound

Grammar Note

See neither.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nor¹

1300–50; Middle English, contraction of nother, Old English nōther, equivalent to ne not + ōther (contraction of ōhwæther ) either; or ¹

Origin of nor²

1955–60

Origin of nor³

Short for normal

Word History and Origins

Origin of nor¹

C13: contraction of Old English nōther, from nāhwæther _neither

Origin of nor²

by shortening from _normal

Idioms and Phrases

see hide nor hair; neither fish nor fowl; neither here nor there; rhyme or reason (neither rhyme nor reason).

Example Sentences

Nor did she explain that what Ginsburg was saying was not that the court had reached the wrong result, but that Roe would have been a more stable, less vulnerable decision had it been based on the 14th Amendment’s explicit guarantee of equal protection rather than on the more elusive concept of constitutional due process.

From Slate

Characters engaged in the show’s death games are neither entirely heroic nor villainous as they make decisions out of self-preservation that spell doom for their fellow players.

From Salon

And of course the very name of Borderland points to the purgatory-like nature of the realm, not existing in the real world nor in the afterlife.

From Salon

Later, the man adds, “The Joker is not a person. Neither is it an entity that controls this world. Nor an entity that oversees the games we play. The Joker is just a card.”

From Salon

Neither Robertson nor Leonard’s agent responded to emails or texts asking for comment on the endorsement arrangement with Aspiration and the allegation reported in the Star regarding Robertson.

From Los Angeles Times