ne - synonyms, antonyms, definitions

ne

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of ne in English

English Online Dictionary. What means ne‎? What does ne mean?

Translingual

Symbol

(international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Nepali.

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/

Etymology 1

From Middle English ne, from Old English ne, from Proto-West Germanic *ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né.

Cognates include Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni), Latin nē, Sanskrit न (na), Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian and Russian не (ne), Lithuanian ne, Irish ní.

Adverb

ne (not comparable)

(obsolete or deliberately archaic) Not.
- c1500, Melusine (translation):
  For she ne dare doo, but to commande.
- c1520, Andria by Terence (translation):
  This shold haue bene his skuce at the lest / And it ne had bene but good & honest.
- c1520, Andria by Terence (translation):
  O so incessaunt thow ad in thy desyre / For so that thow thy mynde now mayst haue / Thow ne caryst what thow dost requyre.

Conjunction

(obsolete) Nor.

Usage notes

Ne survives only as part of the oral tradition in rural Scotland and Northern England. It is almost never used in common speech.

Related terms

ne exeat

Etymology 2

From Maori nē.

Adverb

ne (not comparable)

(New Zealand) "Isn't that so?" (used in representations of Maori English). [from 19th c.]

Etymology 3

Adverb

(Stenoscript) Abbreviation of any.

Anagrams

-en, en-, en, EN, En

Abinomn

Noun

ne (dual nerom, plural nekon)

arrow (projectile)

Afar

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈne/ [ˈnɛ]

Pronoun

né

we, us

Usage notes

The form née is used when the pronoun isn't followed by a clitic.

References

E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “ne”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

Ainu

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Verb

ne (Kana spelling ネ)

(intransitive, copulative) to be, become

Derived terms

newa (“and”)

Albanian

Alternative forms

(Gheg) na
në

Etymology

The nominative-accusative is from accusative Proto-Albanian *nōs, stressed form of clitic Proto-Indo-European *nos, which is continued by the clitic na. Neve and nesh are innovated, but Gheg retains dative nahe (Old Albanian nae) from a genitive *nosōm.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [nɛ]

Pronoun

ne (accusative ne, dative neve, ablative nesh)

we, us

Declension

References

Blagar

Noun

human, person

References

A. Schapper, The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 1

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *ni.

Particle

Usage notes

Used combined with ket, mirroring French ne ... pas.

Catalan

Pronunciation

(Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /nə/
(Valencia, Alghero) IPA^(key): /ne/

Pronoun

ne (enclitic, contracted 'n, proclitic en, contracted proclitic n')

represents an indeterminate number or quantity of a given noun
represents a place (associated with the action described by the verb) that would be introduced by the preposition de
replaces a phrase introduced by the preposition de
replaces the object of a causative verb

Usage notes

ne cannot be used more than once as the object of a given verb.
While ne is usually used to replace phrases beginning with the preposition de, adverbial phrases (eg de pressa) are replaced with hi.
ne is sometimes used instead of ho to replace an adjective or indefinite noun as the predicate of a verb.
ne is sometimes used popularly to add emphasis to a sentence: in this sense, it has no translation in English.
-ne is the full (plena) form of the pronoun. It is normally used after verbs ending with a consonant or ⟨u⟩, or between some adverbs/pronouns and a verb. In some varieties of Catalan (Balearic/Valencian) it can also occur in sentence-initial position.

Chuukese

Conjunction

to (connects verbs)

Preposition

Expressing a fraction or a ratio. Preceded by a nominator and followed by the denominator.

Czech

Etymology

inherited from Old Czech ne, from Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈnɛ]

Interjection

Particle

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin nec, neque. Compare Italian nè, Spanish, Catalan and French ni, Romanian nici.

Adverb

neither

Deg

Noun

water

References

Maurice Delafosse, Vocabulaires comparatifs de plus de 60 langues ou dialectes parlés à la Côte d’Ivoire et dans les régions limitrophes : avec des notes linguistiques et ethnologiques, une bibliographie et une carte (Paris, E. Leroux, 1904), page 231

Dutch

Alternative forms

nen (before vowels and b, d and t)

Etymology

From nen through apocope, itself a contraction of eenen, enen, the now-obsolete accusative form of een.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/
Hyphenation: ne
Rhymes: -ə

Article

(Belgium, colloquial) a, an

Usage notes

ne is used primarily in dialects that retain the three-way gender split. It is only used for masculine words, while een is used for feminine and neuter words.

The form nen is used before vowels (as the English an) and certain consonants (commonly b, d and t), differing from dialect to dialect.

Anagrams

Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

Determiner

that.

Pronoun

that.

Esperanto

Etymology

From French ne, Polish nie, Russian не (ne), etc.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: ne

Particle

no
not
non-

Antonyms

Derived terms

nei (“to say no, to deny”)
nee (“rejectingly, denyingly, with the word no”)
nea (“negative, denying, rejecting”)
kapnei (“to shake one's head no”)

Finnish

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *nek, from Proto-Uralic *ne + *-k (dual ending). Compare Erzya не (ne), неть (neť).

The inflectional stem nii- derives from the same stem with the plural infix (-i-), through an older *nij- (< *ne-j-). Compare also se.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈne/, [ˈne̞]
Rhymes: -e
Syllabification^(key): ne
Hyphenation^(key): ne

Pronoun

(demonstrative, of things and animals) nominative plural of se: they, those (objects not pointed at by the speaker)
(colloquial, dialectal, of people) nominative plural of se: they
Synonym: he

Determiner

nominative plural of se: those (not pointed at by the speaker)

Usage notes

See the usage notes under se.

Inflection

The case suffixes are mostly regular (except the inessive and elative singular). Abessive is never used in the singular and extremely seldom in the plural. Instructive niin is more or less a theoretical construction, since it has developed into an adverb, and its current meaning cannot be derived from ne.

Descendants

Kven: net
Meänkieli: net

Anagrams

-en, en

French

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French nen or ne preceding words starting in a consonant, from Latin nōn.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/
Rhymes: -ə

Particle

(literary) not (used alone to negate a verb, now chiefly with only a few particular verbs: see usage notes)
- 1713, Voltaire, letter, Dec 1713:
not, no (used before a verb, with a coordinating negative element usually following; see Usage Notes, below)
Used in a subordinate clause before a subjunctive verb (especially when the main verb expresses doubt or fear), to provide extra overtones of doubt or uncertainty (but not negating its verb); the so-called "pleonastic" or "expletive" ne.
In comparative clauses usually translated with the positive sense of the subsequent negative

Usage notes

Typically, ne follows the subject and is itself followed by the verb and:
- a negative adverbial (pas (“not; don't/doesn't”), plus (“no more, no longer”), jamais (“never”), (now literary) guère (“hardly”), or (now obsolete) point (“not a bit”));
- a nominal element modified by a negative determiner (aucun or nul, both meaning "no", "not a") — note that these phrases can take on nominal, pronominal or adverbial functions;
- More mobile are negative pronouns, the most common being personne (“nobody”) and rien (“nothing”), which will follow ne and the verb if they function as the object complement of that verb, but if they are the subject of a given clause, they will usually sit at its head:
Personne ne s’en souviendra demain. ― Nobody will remember about it tomorrow.

Rien ne le dérange. ― Nothing bothers him.
In literary French (i.e., the most formal variety of the written language) certain verbs can be negated with ne alone (without another negating element like pas). Nowadays, this list is restricted chiefly to the verbs pouvoir, savoir, cesser, oser, and daigner. Less formal registers still require coordination with another negative element.
In colloquial (i.e., spoken) French, ne is often omitted, leaving the other negating element (pas, plus, rien, personne, etc.) to indicate the sentence's negative state on its own (unless more than one of these elements is already present).
Je veux pas ça. ― I don't want that.

Il attend personne. ― He's not waiting for anyone.

J’en ai plus besoin. ― I don't need it anymore.

On va nulle part. ― We're not going anywhere.

In some regions, ne has disappeared from spoken language either entirely or nearly so. Even when it is included in spoken form, the weak "e" is often elided, causing the remaining /n/ to assimilate into nearby words. Compare a few possible versions of the above example, Je veux pas ça, more or less rising in levels of formality:

J’ veux pas ça. /ʒ‿vø pɑ sa/

Je veux pas ça. /ʒə vø pɑ sa/

Je n’ veux pas ça. /ʒə‿n.vø pɑ sa/

Je ne veux pas ça. /ʒə nə vø pɑ sa/

Anagrams

Gagauz

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish نَه (nä), from Proto-Turkic *nē-. Compare Turkish ne, Azerbaijani nə.

Adverb

Pronoun

(interrogative) what?
whatever, what

Declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish نَه (nä), from Persian (na). Turkish ne, Azerbaijani nə.

Conjunction

ne... ne...

neither... nor...

German

Etymology 1

From Middle High German ne, ni (“not, if not”), from Old High German ne, ni (“no, not, not at all, by no means”), from Proto-West Germanic *ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”), from Proto-Indo-European *né (“not”). Also possibly from a contraction of nicht, dialectal net, nit, ni.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/

Particle

(colloquial, regional, Northern Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia) right?; is it?; is it not?; tag question
Synonyms: gell, oder, wa; see also Thesaurus:nicht wahr

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /neː/

Interjection

Alternative spelling of nee

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/

Article

Alternative spelling of 'ne

German Low German

Article

ne f

(Paderbornisch) nominative/accusative feminine singular of en: a

Pronoun

ne m

(Paderbornisch) weak accusative of hei: him

Gothic

Romanization

nē

Romanization of 𐌽𐌴

Hungarian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈnɛ]
Rhymes: -nɛ

Adverb

don't, should/shall not, stop (doing something)
Ne hallgass rá! ― Don't listen to him!

Ne felejtsd el! or (more emphatically) El ne felejtsd! ― (Mind you) don't forget it!

Miért ne? (= Miért ne csináljuk/tegyük?) ― Why not? (literally, “Why shouldn't [we do it]?”)

Bár ne tettem volna! ― I wish I hadn't done it.

Ne lopj! ― Thou shalt not steal.

Usage notes

Used before the verb in an imperative clause (or sometimes a conditional clause expressing a wish or desire) to negate that clause; ne is always used instead of nem in the imperative mood.

Derived terms

Ido

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/, /nɛ/

Etymology 1

From Esperanto ne, from French ne, Russian не (ne).

Adverb

not, don’t

Derived terms

ne- (“non-, un-, in-, im-, ir- (etc.)”)

Etymology 2

From n +‎ -e.

Noun

ne (plural ne-i)

The name of the Latin script letter N/n.

Ingrian

Pronunciation

(Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈne/, [ˈne̞]
(Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈne/, [ˈne̞]
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: ne

Pronoun

Alternative form of neet

Determiner

Alternative form of neet

References

Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 338

Anagrams

Isthmus Zapotec

Conjunction

Istro-Romanian

Etymology

From Latin nix, nivem, through Proto-Romanian (compare Romanian nea, Aromanian neao), from Proto-Italic *sniks, from Proto-Indo-European *snígʷʰs (“snow”), root noun derived from *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”).

Noun

ne f (definite nevu, genitive/dative lu nevu)

snow

Italian

Etymology 1

From Latin inde (“thence”). Compare French en (adverb, pronoun).

Alternative forms

-ne (enclitic form)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): ^°/ne/^°
IPA^(key): (traditional) /ne/^°
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: ne
In modern usage but not traditional usage, this word actively blocks syntactic gemination of its initial consonant. Hence però ne prendo (“I (will) take some”) is pronounced /peˈrɔ ne ˈprɛndo/ in modern usage, but /peˈrɔ‿nne ˈprɛndo/ traditionally, since però normally triggers syntactic gemination.

Adverb

from there

Usage notes

The adverb ne replaces di là (“from there”):

Pronoun

from this; from that; from these; from those, sometimes not translated in English
about this; about that; about these; about those
of this; of that; of these; of those, sometimes not translated in English
of them (sometimes not translated in English)
for this; of that; of these; of those, sometimes not translated in English
intensive particle, used in forms of certain verbs suffixed with -ne, where it indicates a particular way of carrying out the verb's action
only used in forms of the verb of volerne (“to hold a grudge”)
only used in forms of the verb of andarne (“to be at stake”)

Usage notes

The pronoun ne stands for di + [pronoun], and can thus be a translation of “[preposition] + it/them” for any preposition that is translated as di in Italian.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): ^°°/ne/^*
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: ne
This word triggers syntactic gemination of the following consonant, and may or may not block syntactic gemination of its initial consonant (contrast the pronominal usage above).

Contraction

Apocopic form of nel

Usage notes

The contraction ne is used where nel, nella, etc., would ordinarily be used, but cannot be because the article is part of the title of a film, book, etc.

Japanese

Romanization

The hiragana syllable ね (ne) or the katakana syllable ネ (ne) in Hepburn romanization.

Kalasha

Determiner

Particle

Kapampangan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈne/ [ˈnɛ]
Hyphenation: ne

Etymology 1

Contraction of na + ya.

Pronoun

blend of 3rd person singular possessive/ergative pronoun + 3rd person singular absolutive pronoun

Etymology 2

Compare Tagalog 'no, Japanese な (na), ね (ne).

Particle

(informal) sentence-final particle indicating emotion or mild emphasis
(tag question) sentence-final question marker particle indicating emphasis and asking for confirmation: right?; eh?; isn't it, innit?

Adverb

already; now (expresses the event when following a verb)
already; now (declares the event of action when following a verb in the past tense)
already; now (suggests immediate or quick action when following the infinitive form and future tense of the verb)

Karaim

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *nē-.

Pronoun

what

References

N. A. Baskakov, S.M. Šapšala, editor (1973), “ne”, in Karaimsko-Russko-Polʹskij Slovarʹ [Karaim-Russian-Polish Dictionary], Moscow: Moskva, →ISBN

Karelian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *nek. Cognates include Finnish ne and Estonian need.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnʲe/
Hyphenation: ne

Determiner

(South Karelian) those
(North Karelian or dialectal) these, those (medial)

Pronoun

(South Karelian) those
(North Karelian or dialectal) these, those (medial)

Usage notes

In North Karelian, ne is used to refer to objects that are far away from the speaker, but close to the addressee.

Declension

References

A. V. Punzhina (1994) “ne”, in Словарь карельского языка (тверские говоры) [Dictionary of the Karelian language (Tver dialects)], →ISBN
P. Zaykov, L. Rugoyeva (1999) “ne”, in Карельско-Русский словарь (Северно-Карельские диалекты) [Karelian-Russian dictionary (North Karelian dialects)], Petrozavodsk, →ISBN
Pertti Virtaranta, Raija Koponen (2009) “ne”, in Marja Torikka, editor, Karjalan kielen sanakirja‎^[18], Helsinki: Kotus, →ISSN

Ladin

Adverb

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈneː/, [ˈneː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈne/, [ˈnɛː]

Etymology 1

From Old Latin ne (“not”), from Proto-Italic *nē, from the extension of Proto-Indo-European *né (“not”). Cognates include Proto-Germanic *ne (whence Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni) and Old English ne), Sanskrit न (ná), Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian and Russian не (ne), Lithuanian ne, Irish ní.

Adverb

nē (not comparable)

no, not
+ subjunctive, introduces a prohibition or negative command: do not, don’t
+ future imperative, introduces a prohibition or negative command in general directions serving for all time, as precepts, statutes, and proverbs: do not, don’t

Derived terms

nē quidem (“not even”)

Conjunction

nē (+ subjunctive)

that not, in order not to and similar; lest

Usage notes

Not to be confused with the affirmative particle ne (see Etymology 2).
The adverb, in cases of prohibition, became obsolete in colloquial speech in late antiquity, being displaced by non, originally a solecism.

Derived terms

nēve/neu
nē forte
nē quō (“to no place, nowhither”)
nē quis
neutiquam

Related terms

Etymology 2

From Proto-Indo-European *né-h₁ (“that way, so”), which consists of *áno- (“yonder”, pronomial stem, distal) +‎ *-h₁ (modal and instrumental suffix). Cognate with Ancient Greek νή (nḗ, “yes, indeed”) and Proto-Germanic *-nā (emphatic suffix after adverbs) which features in Icelandic svona (“so”), hérna (“here”), and þarna (“there”). The same pronominal stem is also present in the words enim (“for; truly”), nempe (“indeed”), and nam (“for”).

Interjection

nē

truly!, indeed!; only joined with personal pronouns and commonly connected with other affirmative particles

References

Latvian

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né.

Pronunciation

Conjunction

not
ne tikai ― not only

ne visai ― not quite

Lithuanian

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛ/

Interjection

no (used to show disagreement or negation)

Livonian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Pronoun

they; nominative plural of tämā

Luganda

Conjunction

and (only used if the overall statement is grammatically positive)

References

The Essentials of Luganda, J. D. Chesswas, 4th edition. Oxford University Press: Nairobi. 1967, p. 94.

Mandarin

Pronunciation

Romanization

ne (ne⁵ / ne⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄋㄜ)

Hanyu Pinyin reading of 吶 / 呐
Hanyu Pinyin reading of 呢

Nonstandard spelling of nē.
Nonstandard spelling of né.
Nonstandard spelling of nè.
Nonstandard spelling of nê̄.

Usage notes

Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mezquital Otomi

Etymology 1

From Proto-Otomi [Term?], from Proto-Otomian [Term?], from Proto-Oto-Pamean *neʔ.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nè/

Verb

(trans) want

Etymology 2

From Proto-Otomi *ne, from Proto-Otomian *ne, from Proto-Oto-Pamean *te/*ne, from Proto-Oto-Manguean *(Y)te(H)³.

Alternative forms

né (obsolete)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /né/, /ně/

Noun

mouth
snout
edge (of a blade)
bite, sting
animals at the head of the herd

References

Andrews, Enriqueta (1950) Vocabulario otomí de Tasquillo, Hidalgo‎^[19] (in Spanish), México, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 19, 47, 74
Hernández Cruz, Luis, Victoria Torquemada, Moisés (2010) Diccionario del hñähñu (otomí) del Valle del Mezquital, estado de Hidalgo (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 45)‎^[20] (in Spanish), second edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 210

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né.

Adverb

Usage notes

Immediately precedes the verb. Often found in combination with the synonymous niet or another negating adverb, which is placed elsewhere.

Alternative forms

Descendants

Dutch: n- (prefix)

Middle English

Alternative forms

ny, ni (rare)

Etymology

From Old English ne, from Proto-West Germanic *ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛ/, /nə/

Adverb

not (negates the accompanying verb)
Þei ne bileveden hire nought. ― They didn't believe her.
- 13??, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Knight's Portrait" (line 70), The Canterbury Tales.
  He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde.
not (to no degree, extent, or way)
Þou ne art weyke. ― You aren't weak.

Usage notes

Middle English lacks do-support. Instead, ne is simply used by itself: Puple deien, bot fame ne deieþ ("People die, but reputation does not die").
Middle English has negative concord, so negatives don't cancel out another, unlike formal English or Latin. ne is often accompanied by other negatives rather than used alone. Double, triple, and quadruple negatives are common: I ne oght no man noght ("I haven't owed anything to anyone," literally "I not owed no one nothing").
ne usually immediately precedes the verb; compare nought / nat, which usually follows it.

Related terms

never
non
nought

Descendants

English: ne (obsolete)
Scots: ne (obsolete)

References

“ne, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Conjunction

nor (and not, or (not), not)
lest (in case, before)
than (introducing a basis of comparison)

Usage notes

ne can contract with certain words that follow it, such as ne was → nas. This is optional, so forms like ne was are possible.
ne... ne... is often found in correlative constructions, with the meaning of not... or...; this is comparable to modern English neither... (n)or....

Descendants

English: ne (obsolete)
Scots: ne (obsolete)

References

“ne, conj.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
“ne, conj.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle French

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Adverb

not (used to negate a verb)

Usage notes

As in modern French, may be used in combination with another adverb, such as ne... iamais, ne... pas, ne... gaire, ne... mie, ne... oncques, ne... poin(c)t and ne... rien(s), but such an adverb is not required.

Etymology 2

See ny

Conjunction

Alternative form of ny (“neither; nor”)

Mohawk

Article

Negerhollands

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛ/

Verb

take

References

Language Contact in the Danish West Indies (2012, →ISBN

Nheengatu

Etymology

From Old Tupi ne. Cognate with Guaraní nde.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ne]

Hyphenation: ne
Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

(second-class) second-person singular personal pronoun (you, your)

Usage notes

As a second-class pronoun, ne is used as the subject of a sentence when its verb is a second-class one (those verbs are sometimes referred to as adjectives). The personal pronoun ne is also used when governed by any postposition with the exception of arama and supé. Finally, ne is used as a possessive pronoun as well.

References

AVILA, Marcel Twardowsky (2021) Proposta de dicionário nheengatu–português, page 564
NAVARRO, Eduardo de Almeida (2016) Curso de língua geral (nheengatu ou tupi moderno): a língua das origens da civilização amazônica, 2nd edition, →ISBN, pages 11 and 106

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

From Proto-Iranian *na, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *na, from Proto-Indo-European *né. Related to na.

Adverb

Interjection

Northern Ndebele

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

near m pl

Etymology

From Old Norse nið f, possibly from Proto-Germanic *nidwō (“sinking; downfall”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /neː/

Noun

ne n (plural neet)

a lunar phase of an old moon, i.e. period of time in which the moon is waning
Antonym: ny

Derived terms

i ny og ne
nemåne

References

“ne” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

Old Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈnɛ/
IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈnɛ/

Particle

Negation particle; no, not

Descendants

Czech: ne

References

Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “ne”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Old Dutch

Alternative forms

ne- (more common prefix variant)

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”), from Proto-Indo-European *né (“no, not”). Cognate with Old English ne (“not”), Old Frisian ne (“not”), Old Saxon ne (“not”) and Old High German ni (“not”).

Adverb

not
Synonyms: niewiht, ne-
- c. 900 CE, Die altmittel- und altniederfränkischen Psalmen und Glossen [The Old Middle and Old Low Franconian psalms and glosses]:

Descendants

Middle Dutch: ne
- Dutch: n-

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Adverb

Usage notes

Old English does not have do-support. Instead, ne is simply used by itself: Menn sweltaþ, ac hlīsa ne swilt ("People die, but reputation does not die").
Ne is placed immediately before the finite verb (except in poetry, where it may occur in other positions for metrical reasons): Sēo lǣrestre ne meahte furðum mīnes naman ġemunan (“The teacher could not even remember my name”). It only goes before infinitives on the rare occasion when there is no finite verb to negate: Iċ wēne þæt þū sċyle forlǣtan and eft ne cuman ("I think you should leave and not come back"), Uton ne forspillan nāne tīd mā ("Let's not waste any more time").
Ne negates verbs. Other parts of speech are negated with nā: Earg iċ eom, nā lǣwa ("I'm a coward, not a traitor"), Iċ hīe fræġn "Hū wæs þīn færeld?" and hēo cwæþ "Nā yfel" ("I asked her 'How was your trip?' and she said "Not bad'"). Nā is also used when the verb is only implied: Ne rēċe iċ hwæðer mē hwā ġelīefe þē nā ("I don't care if anyone believes me or not"). Nā also negates tō-infinitives and participles: Þās þing ġedafenode tō dōnne and þā ōðru nā tō forlǣtenne ("It would have made sense to do these things and not to neglect the others").
Ne and its accompanying verb often come at the beginning of a sentence: Ne meahte nān mann tecnāwan hwelcre mægðe hē wǣre ("Nobody could tell what tribe he was," literally "Couldn't nobody tell what tribe he was").
Old English has negative concord, meaning one negative does not cancel out another. Double, triple, and quadruple negatives are very common: Ne sċolde iċ nǣfre nānum menn nāwiht ("I've never owed anything to anyone," literally "I never not owed no one nothing").
In a few verbs beginning with a vowel, h, or w, ne actually fuses with the verb, creating nesan (“to not be”), nabban (“to not have”), nyllan (“to not want”), nytan (“to not know”), and nāgan (“to not own”). In the West Saxon dialect (the dialect of most surviving texts and sometimes referred to as "standard" Old English), the contracted forms are the norm, while in other dialects the uncontracted forms ne wesan, ne habban, etc. are also common.

Conjunction

(in negative phrases) or, and not (optionally translated as "nor")
- c. 996, Ælfric's Lives of Saints
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of The Consolation of Philosophy
ne... ne... is used to mean "[not...] or..." (optionally translated as "neither... nor...")
- c. 995, Ælfric, Excerptiones de Arte Grammatica Anglice

Usage notes

In the phrase "[not...] or...", ne is often used consecutively for "or", stacking with the ne negating the following verb: Iċ nāt ne ne rēċe hwelċes cynnes fugol hit sīe, hit is mīn frēond ("I don't know or care what kind of bird it is, it's my friend").

Descendants

Middle English: ne, ny, ni (rare)
- English: ne (obsolete)
- Scots: ne (obsolete)

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin nōn.

Alternative forms

nen (poetic, before vowels)

Adverb

not; used to form negative constructions

Descendants

French: ne

Etymology 2

From Latin nec.

Conjunction

neither (not one or the other)

Descendants

French: ni

Old Frisian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”). Cognates include Old English ne and Old Saxon ne.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Adverb

Descendants

North Frisian:
Heligoland: ni

Conjunction

Particle

Synonyms

References

Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Old Saxon

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ne.

Adverb

Descendants

Middle Low German: ne, en

Old Tupi

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnɛ/
Rhymes: -ɛ
Hyphenation: ne

Pronoun

(rare) Alternative form of nde

Pali

Alternative forms

Adjective

accusative plural masculine of na (“those”)

Pronoun

accusative plural of na (“them, those”)

Phuthi

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

Polish

Pronunciation

(Lesser Poland):
- (Podegrodzie) IPA^(key): /ˈnɛ/
- (Przemyśl) IPA^(key): [ˈnɛ]

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

(Przemyśl) used to call cows and calves

Etymology 2

See na.

Interjection

(Podegrodzie) Alternative form of na (“take it”)

Rawang

Noun

eye.

Romanian

Alternative forms

нє (pre-1860s Cyrillic form)

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin nīs, from Latin nos. Compare nă (old form) and Aromanian nã.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Pronoun

ne (unstressed accusative and reflexive form of noi)

(direct object, first-person plural) us

Related terms

noi (stressed accusative)

Pronoun

ne (unstressed dative and reflexive form of noi)

(indirect object) (to) us

Related terms

nouă (stressed dative)

Saterland Frisian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/
Hyphenation: ne

Article

Form of of n used before feminine adjectives
Dät is n Gous. Ne grieze Gous. ― That's a goose. A grey goose.

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English ne, from Old English ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /neɪ/, /nɛ/, /nə/, /n(ː)/

Adverb

(archaic, rare) Not.
(A Northern English folk saying)

Conjunction

(archaic, rare) Nor.

Usage notes

Ne is a negative particle and it is used preverbally, i.e. it is placed directly before a verb, for example,ː"What haps might chance me I ne knew" (William Fowler (makar), 1590) and "To suffer exile he said that he ne couth" (Gavin Douglas, Virgil's Aeneid, 1513). Now archaic and chiefly dialectal, it is still understood and used by a few rural speakers in Scotland and Northern England.
As a conjunction, it is placed immediately before the word it negates as inː ne mickle, ne little; Twas ne man, ne woman.. ne beast; ne rich, ne poor, ne bold, ne meek, ne stong, ne weak can escape God's wrath.
In urban areas and cities became displaced by na or nae.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Particle

ne (Cyrillic spelling не)

not (denoting negation)
ne znam ― I don't know

on je ne samo darovit, već i jako marljiv ― he is not only talented, but also very industrious

htio-ne htio ― whether you want it or not

da ne spavaš? / ne spavaš li? / zar ne spavaš? ― aren't you sleeping?

ne mogu, a da ne… ― I cannot but…

reći ne ― to say no; refuse, decline

ne manje nego/od… ― no less than…

ne doći ― to fail to come, not come

… Zar ne? ― … Aren't you? (Isn't it?, Do you?, Don't you?)

neću ― I won't

Interjection

ne (Cyrillic spelling не)

no
Jesi li demokrat? Ne! ― Are you a democrat? No!

Synonyms

jok (dialectal)

Antonyms

Skou

Pronoun

References

Donohue, Mark. A Grammar of the Skou Language of New Guinea (2004).

Slovak

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɲe]

Pronoun

accusative of ony

Usage notes

Used after prepositions.

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *né.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛ́/, /nɛ/

Particle

nȅ

not (negates meaning of verb)
no (expresses disapproval, disagreement)

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “no”): dà, já

Southern Ndebele

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Sumerian

Romanization

Romanization of 𒉈

Swazi

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

Tagalog

Alternative forms

ane
hana
hane — Rizal, Quezon
hani

Etymology

Compare Ilocano ne, Kapampangan ne, and Japanese ね (ne).

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈne/ [ˈn̪ɛ]
Rhymes: -e
Syllabification: ne

Particle

ne (Baybayin spelling ᜈᜒ) (Bataan, Nueva Ecija, tag question)

Sentence-final question marker particle indicating emphasis and asking for confirmation: right?; eh?; isn't it, innit?
Synonyms: 'no, 'di ba, ano

Anagrams

Ternate

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /neː/

Determiner

(proximal) this, these
namo ne ― this chicken

Pronoun

(demonstrative) this
ngori tomau ne ― I want this

ne foke ― this is a cockroach

References

Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Turkish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛ/

Etymology 1

From Ottoman Turkish نه (ne, “what, whatever, how”), from Old Anatolian Turkish [script needed] (ne, “what”), from Proto-Turkic *nē- (“what”).

Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰤𐰀 (n²a /⁠ne⁠/, “what, which”), Karakhanid نا (ne), Old Uyghur [script needed] (ne), Azerbaijani nə, Salar neñ, Bashkir ни (ni), Chuvash мӗн (mĕn) (metathesis < *ne-me), Kazakh не (ne), Khakas ниме (nime), Kyrgyz не (ne), Tatar ни (ni), Turkmen nǟmä, Tuvan чүү (çüü), Uyghur نېمە (nëme), Uzbek nima.

Pronoun

what
Ne istiyorsun? ― What do you want?
whatever
Ne istersen yaparım. ― I will do whatever you want.

Declension

Related terms

Adverb

what, how, such
Ne güzel! ― How beautiful!

Ne güzel bir gün! ― What a beautiful day!
Used as an intensifier to express surprise, astonishment, together with expressions like be!, ha!.
Ne osurdun be! ― You farted such (that probably the whole world heard it).

Etymology 2

From Ottoman Turkish نه (ne, “neither; nor”), from Persian (na). Cognate to Old English ne (“not”).

Conjunction

ne ... ne ...

neither; nor
Ne bu ne şu ― Neither this nor that

Usage notes

Not used alone but rather as ne...ne..., the way it is used is directly copied from Persian نه...نه...(“neither; nor”).

Antonyms

... de... de, ... da... da

Etymology 3

Noun

The name of the Latin-script letter N/n.

References

Tuvaluan

Particle

past tense marker, inserted immediately before the relevant verb

Unami

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [nə]

Pronoun

në

that (inanimate)

Ura (Vanuatu)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/, [ne]

Noun

water
river

Votic

Pronunciation

(Luutsa, Liivtšülä) IPA^(key): /ˈne/, [ˈne]
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: ne

Pronoun

Alternative form of need

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /neː/

Noun

Nasal mutation of de.

Mutation

West Makian

Etymology

Likely cognate with Ternate ne (“this”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /n̪e/

Determiner

(proximal) this, these
Synonyms: mene, nema

Antonym: ma

pala ne ilamo ― this house is large

nudupe de ngeu ne ― throw away these leftovers

References

Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[25], Pacific linguistics

Xhosa

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

Yup'ik

Noun

ne (absolutive ena)

house

Zou

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne˧/

Noun

Verb

(transitive) to eat

Derived terms

References

Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, pages 40-41

Zulu

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

Derived terms

isine

References

C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “-ne”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ne”

ne

ne

Translingual

Symbol

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Adverb

Conjunction

Usage notes

Related terms

Etymology 2

Adverb

Etymology 3

Adverb

Anagrams

Abinomn

Noun

Afar

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

See also

References

Ainu

Pronunciation

Verb

Derived terms

See also

Albanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Declension

See also

References

Blagar

Noun

References

Breton

Etymology

Particle

Usage notes

Catalan

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

See also

Chuukese

Conjunction

Preposition

Czech

Etymology

Pronunciation

Interjection

Particle

See also

Further reading

Dalmatian

Etymology

Adverb

Deg

Noun

References

Dutch

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Article

Usage notes

See also

Anagrams

Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

Determiner

Pronoun

Esperanto

Etymology

Pronunciation

Particle