nisi
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of nisi
< Latin: if not, unless (conjunction)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A decree nisi was due to be granted in March 2021.
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2022
And that's only the beginning of what the nil nisi bonum faithful evaded.
From Salon • May 8, 2021
In the early 3rd century, biographer Diogenes Laërtius attributed the phrase “do not speak ill of the dead” to philosopher Chilon of Sparta, later popularized in Latin as De mortuis nihil nisi bonum.
From Washington Post • Aug. 28, 2018
De mortuis nil nisi bonum, and all that, but you who don't remember JFK's presidency should recognize that he became a legend only after he was killed.
From New York Times • Nov. 28, 2015
The experience of true, passionate love that had been snatched away from me just when it had been in my grasp— Nil satis nisi optimum, interrupted my father’s voice, booming inside my head.
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.