nona

¹

[noh-nuh]

noun

Pathology.

1. sleeping sickness.

nona-

²

1. a combining form meaning “nine, ninth,” used in the formation of compound words.

   nonagon.

nona-

combining form

1. nine

   nonagon

Word History and Origins

Origin of nona¹

< Latin nōna ( hōra ) ninth (hour); i.e., late stage in life of patient

Word History and Origins

Origin of nona¹

from Latin nōnus

Example Sentences

A child actor we first met on “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” as the quirky, arm-cast-wearing best friend Nona F. Mecklenberg.

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But on hearing the news of her untimely passing, Wednesday at 39, my mind went straight past Dawn Summers on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and Georgina Sparks on “Gossip Girl” to Nona F. Mecklenberg, the character played by Trachtenberg — the names rhyme — in Nickelodeon’s “The Adventures of Pete & Pete,” the greatest children’s show of the 1990s, or any other decade, and, really, one of the best shows ever to emanate from a television.

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Trachtenberg and Nona set out together on that sea of life.

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Nona’s forearm was permanently in a cast, not because of any slow-to-heal injury but because she liked the way it made her skin itch.

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Nona’s slice of the titles shows her in a blur of motion, extracted from the third-season episode “Dance Fever,” in which at a school function she tries to avoid dancing with her doting father, played by Iggy Pop, who croons a plea for her to join him on the floor: “I held you on my bended knee / I tucked you in the sack / I carried you around so much / I sprained my lower back.”

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When To Use

What does nona- mean?

Nona- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “nine” or “ninth.” It is used in a number of scientific and other technical terms.In chemistry, nona- is specifically used to indicate nine atoms or nine groups of atoms in compounds, e.g., nonapeptide.Nona- comes from the Latin nōnus, meaning “ninth.” The word noon also derives from the Latin nōna hōra, the “ninth hour” from sunrise. That means 12 o’clock noon was originally 3 p.m!The Greek word for “nine” is ennéa, source of the combining form ennea-, which you can learn more about in our Words That Use article for the form.What are variants of nona-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, nona- becomes non-, as in nonyl alcohol.However, in a great many more instances, the letters non- at the beginning of a word are the prefix non-, meaning "not," as in nonabrasive or nonacademic.