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

Neither promoter Goldenvoice nor representatives for each artist responded to requests for comment on the bill, but outlets including Rolling Stone have cited them as likely or confirmed performers.

From Los Angeles Times

As law professor Lee Loevinger explained almost 50 years ago: “Neither judges nor juries, nor even lawyers in the usual situation, ever come in contact with the ‘facts’ of any case, taking ‘facts’ to mean the transactions or occurrences which gave rise to the controversy.”

From Slate

Whatever the voters’ reasons, forcing incarcerated individuals to do work against their will is immoral and does no one any good — neither prisoners nor those in the outside world to which most will return.

From Los Angeles Times

Nor would it do much to defray the estimated $4-trillion 10-year cost of extending parts of the 2017 Republican tax cut, which is the ostensible reason for seeking out penny-ante savings in budget categories such as a social safety net, according to the Washington Post.

From Los Angeles Times

That might account for why Arkansas, the one state that actually implemented work rules under the Trump administration, experienced no increase in either “employment nor the number of hours worked” among the Medicaid-eligible population, in the words of the Congressional Budget Office.

From Los Angeles Times