different between nun vs widow

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English nonne, nunne, from Old English nunne (“nun, priestess”), from Late Latin nonna (“nun, tutor”), originally (along with masculine form nonnus (“man”)) a term of address for elderly persons, perhaps from children's speech, reminiscent of nana, like papa etc. Doublet of nonna.

Pronunciation

• enPR: n?n, IPA^(key): /n?n/
• Rhymes: -?n
• Homophone: none

Noun

nun (plural nuns)

1. A member of a Christian religious community of women who live by certain vows and usually wear a habit, (Roman Catholicism, specifically) those living together in a cloister.

   Synonyms: sister, moniale, sistren

   Antonyms: brother, friar, monk, frater

2. (by extension) A member of a similar female community in other confessions.
3. (archaic, Britain, slang) A prostitute.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:prostitute
4. A kind of pigeon with the feathers on its head like the hood of a nun.

Usage notes

In Roman Catholicism, a distinction is often drawn (especially by members of female religious orders) between nuns and sisters, the former being cloistered and devoted primarily to prayer, the latter being more active, doing work such as operating hospitals, caring for the poor, or teaching.

Derived terms

• nunhood
• nunlike, nun-like
• nunnery

Related terms

• (member of a religious community): nonnus
• (prostitute): abbess, abbot, Covent Garden nun

Translations

Further reading

• Nun on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Borrowed from the letter’s name in the respective language.

Alternative forms

• noon
• n?n

Pronunciation

• enPR: n??n, IPA^(key): /n?n/ or enPR: no?on, IPA^(key): /nu?n/

Noun

nun (plural nuns)

1. The fourteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).

Translations

Further reading

• Nun (letter) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “nun”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Asturian

Alternative forms

• ñun (adverb)

Etymology 1

From Latin n?n.

Adverb

nun

1. not, no (used to make negatives)

Etymology 2

Contraction

nun

1. in a/an (contraction of en + un)

Bambara

Noun

nun

1. (anatomy) nose

References

• Richard Nci Diarra, Lexique bambara-français-anglais, December 13, 2010

Chiricahua

Alternative forms

• non (in older Americanist literature)

Etymology

Cognates: Navajo noo?, Western Apache non, noi, Plains Apache n??.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nòn/

Noun

nun

1. grave, burial place
2. cache

Esperanto

Etymology

From German nun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nun/
• Hyphenation: nun

Adverb

nun

1. now

Derived terms

Fala

Adverb

nun

1. Alternative form of non

Finnish

Noun

nun

1. nun (fourteenth letter of the Hebrew and Phoenician scripts and the Northwest Semitic abjad)

Declension

Galician

Etymology

From contraction of preposition en (“in”) + masculine article un (“a, one”)

Contraction

nun m (feminine nunha, masculine plural nuns, feminine plural nunhas)

1. in a, in one

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nu?n/

Etymology 1

From Middle High German nu, n?, nuo with a secondary final -n, already occasionally in Middle High German nuon, from Old High German nu, from Proto-West Germanic *n?.

Alternative forms

• nu (colloquial; otherwise archaic)

Adverb

nun

1. now, at this moment
2. now, then; expressing a logical or temporal consequence

3. unstressed and expletive, used for minor emphasis

Usage notes

• Although the adverb is similar and akin to English “now”, German nun is not commonly used in a strictly temporal sense, meaning “at this moment”. For that, see jetzt.

Interjection

nun

1. now, well, so

Etymology 2

Clipping of nun daß or nun da.

Conjunction

nun

1. (literary or dated colloquial) now that, given that it has occurred that the circumstances do not withstand that?…

Hausa

Etymology

From Arabic ????? (n?n).

Noun

nun f

1. nun (letter of the Arabic alphabet)

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from Esperanto nun, German nun. Originally replaced with nunk, it was eventually taken back.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nun/

Adverb

nun

1. now, at present, at this time

   Synonym: nunk (archaic)

Derived terms

Italian

Etymology

From Hebrew ????? (nun).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?nun/
• Hyphenation: nùn

Noun

nun f (invariable)

1. nun, specifically:
   1. The name of the Phoenician-script letter ????
   2. The name of the Hebrew-script letter ?/?
   3. The name of the Arabic-script letter ?

Mirandese

Adverb

nun

1. not

Old French

Etymology 1

See nom.

Noun

nun m (oblique plural nuns, nominative singular nuns, nominative plural nun)

1. (Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of nom

Etymology 2

Reduced form of negun.

Adjective

nun m (oblique and nominative feminine singular nune)

1. Alternative form of negun

Pronoun

nun

1. Alternative form of negun

Rohingya

Alternative forms

• ????????????? (nun) – Hanifi Rohingya script

Etymology

Compare Bengali ??? (nun).

Noun

nun (Hanifi spelling ????????????)

1. salt

Romanian

Etymology

From Late Latin nonnus.

Noun

nun m (plural nuni, feminine equivalent nun?)

1. the godfather at a wedding

Declension

Derived terms

• na?

See also

• nunt?

Sicilian

Alternative forms

• non, unn, 'un, nn'

Etymology

From Latin n?n.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nun/

Adverb

nun

1. not

Tat

Etymology

Akin to Persian ???? (n?n, “bread”), see there for more.

Noun

nun

1. bread

Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic ????? (n?n).

Noun

nun

1. Letter of the Arabic alphabet: ?

• • Previous: ??
  • Next: ??

Volapük

Noun

nun (nominative plural nuns)

1. message

Declension

Wolof

Alternative forms

• ñun (used alongside "nun" in Urban Wolof)

Pronoun

nun

1. we (first-person plural subject pronoun)

See also

Zazaki

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?nun]
• Hyphenation: nun

Noun

nun m

1. Alternative form of nan

English

Etymology

From Middle English widwe, from Old English widuwe, from Proto-West Germanic *widuw?, from Proto-Germanic *widuw?, from Proto-Indo-European *h?wid?éwh?, possibly from *h?weyd?h?-, *wid?- (“to separate, split, cleave, divide”), whence also wood from Old English widu, wudu.

Cognates include German Witwe, Dutch weduwe, Gothic ???????????????????????? (widuw?), Old Irish fedb, Latin vidua, Old Church Slavonic ?????? (v?dova), Sanskrit ????? (vidhav?) and Persian ???? (b?ve / b?wa) , Middle Persian w?wag, Avestan viðav?- "widow" .

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w?.d??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?w?.do?/
• Rhymes: -?d??
• Hyphenation: wid?ow

Noun

widow (plural widows)

1. A woman whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried); feminine of widower.
2. (uncommon) A person whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried).
   • 2016, Traciy Reyes, "‘The Wedding March’: Hallmark Movie — June Bride Unwittingly Hires Wedding Singer Who Is Her Ex, Starring Josie Bissett, Jack Wagner", The Inquisitr News, June 23, 2016.

     Now that he is a widow, he tries to win Olivia back through the songs and the music that brought them together all those years ago, leaving Olivia torn between moving forward with Josh or falling into the arms of the man she truly loves.

3. (informal, in combination) A woman whose husband is often away pursuing a sport, etc.
   • 1988, Emily Parry, "For a Bowling Widow, a Split Isn't Just Two Lonely Pins", New York Times, November 27, 1988.

     I had been feeling like a bowling-alley widow, but knew he loved the game, so I suggested we join a mixed league.

4. (card games) An additional hand of cards dealt face down in some card games, to be used by the highest bidder.
5. (printing) A single line of type that ends a paragraph, carried over to the next page or column.
6. A venomous spider, of the genus Latrodectus.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

widow (third-person singular simple present widows, present participle widowing, simple past and past participle widowed)

1. (transitive) To make a widow or widower of someone; to cause the death of the spouse of.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To strip of anything valued.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To endow with a widow's right.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To be widow to.

Translations