nor

¹

[ nawr; unstressed ner ]

conjunction

1. (used in negative phrases, especially after neither, to introduce the second member in a series, or any subsequent member):

   Neither he nor I will be there. They won't wait for you, nor for me, nor for anybody.

2. (used to continue the force of a negative, as not, no, never, etc., occurring in a preceding clause):

   He left and I never saw him again, nor did I regret it.

3. (used after an affirmative clause, or as a continuative, in the sense of and not ):

   They are happy, nor need we worry.

4. Older Use. than.
5. Archaic. (used without a preceding neither, the negative force of which is understood):

   He nor I was there.

6. Archaic. (used instead of neither as correlative to a following nor ):

   Nor he nor I was there.

NOR

²

[ nawr ]

noun

1. a Boolean operator that returns a positive result when both operands are negative.

nor-

³

1. a combining form used in the names of chemical compounds which are the normal or parent forms of the compound denoted by the base words:

   l-norepinephrine.

nor.

⁴

abbreviation for

1. north.
2. northern.

Nor.

⁵

abbreviation for

1. Norman.
2. North.
3. Northern.
4. Norway.
5. Norwegian.

nor-

¹

combining_form

1. indicating that a chemical compound is derived from a specified compound by removal of a group or groups

   noradrenaline

2. indicating that a chemical compound is a normal isomer of a specified compound

nor

²

/ nə; nɔː /

conjunction

1. neither ... nor
   used to join alternatives and not

   neither measles nor mumps

2. foll by an auxiliary verb orhave, do, or be used as main verbs (and) not … either

   they weren't talented — nor were they particularly funny

3. dialect.
   than

   better nor me

4. poetic.
   neither

   nor wind nor rain

Grammar Note

See neither.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nor¹

1300–50; Middle English, contraction of nother, Old English nōther, equivalent to ne not + ōther (contraction of ōhwæther ) either; or ¹

Origin of nor²

1955–60

Origin of nor³

Short for normal

Word History and Origins

Origin of nor¹

by shortening from normal

Origin of nor²

C13: contraction of Old English nōther, from nāhwæther neither

Idioms and Phrases

see hide nor hair ; neither fish nor fowl ; neither here nor there ; rhyme or reason (neither rhyme nor reason) .

Example Sentences

What I found suggested that Crusius’ grievances were neither isolated nor unique.

From Salon

“It’s neither” pure chance which homes burn nor completely determined by which home hardening measures were taken, she said.

From Los Angeles Times

They are neither really good nor really bad, but the big test comes over the next four weeks.

From Los Angeles Times

Authorities believe the virus was acquired via an animal source; however, the teen was not on a farm nor near any known wild birds or backyard poultry — common reservoirs for the disease.

From Los Angeles Times

The ritual Democratic self-flagellation is calming down a bit as most people finally take a breath and recognize that while the result was a terrible disappointment it was anything but a landslide for Donald Trump, nor was it a crushing rebuke of the Democrats.

From Salon