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Added 7 October 2026

nonce

/nɒns/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about nonce at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

The one or single occasion; the present reason or purpose.
That will do for the nonce, but we'll need a better answer for the long term.
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.
A value constructed so as to be unique to a particular message in a stream, in order to prevent replay attacks.

adjective

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

noun

A sex offender, especially one who is guilty of sexual offences against children. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
A pedophile.
A police informer, one who betrays a criminal enterprise

Origin

Inherited 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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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