Flannery O'Connor
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Nary, most often used in the phrase "nary a" to mean "not a single," is an 18th-century alteration of the adjectival phrase "ne'er a," in which ne'er is a contraction of never. That contraction dates to the 13th century, and the word it abbreviates is even older: never can be traced back to Old English nǣfre, a combination of ne ("not" or "no") and ǣfre ("ever"). Old English ne also combined with ā ("always") to give us nā, the Old English ancestor of our no. Ā, from the Latin aevum ("age" or "lifetime") and Greek aiōn ("age"), is related to the English adverb aye, meaning "always, continually, or ever." This aye (pronounced to rhyme with say) is unrelated to the more familiar aye (pronounced to rhyme with sigh) used as a synonym of yes.
Examples of nary in a Sentence
Lydia Price, People.com, 22 Dec. 2024
There is nary an old building, promenade, or tree in Samara; only hotels, public offices, banks, and sunburnt squares.
—Eugène-Melchior De Vogüé, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2024
All the while, the party skillfully stitched together a rainbow coalition of Hindu castes (nary a Muslim was given an invitation to the BJP ticket).
—Milan Vaishnav, Foreign Affairs, 15 Mar. 2017
Its town center is dotted with small restaurants, art galleries, museums, and a library—nary a Chanel boutique in sight.
—Emma Reynolds, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Nary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nary. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.
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