From Latin nōnus (“ninth”). As a day of the Roman calendar, via nōnae (“ninth days”) from the original Roman practice of counting forward to the next full or new crescent moon, the nones' occurrence 8 days before the ides of every month (9 counting inclusively) following the establishment of a fixed calendar, and from the Latin practice of treating most recurring calendrical days as plurals. Some scholars believe the name is a variant of the nundines (nūndinae fēriae (“ninth-day festival”)), the Roman market days held every eight days (9 counting inclusively), which were likely announced for each coming month by the Roman kings on the first-quarter days. As a time of day, via the plural form of Middle English, Anglo-Norman, & French none and Latin nōna (“ninth hour”) after the manner of earlier matins, vespers, etc. As a meal, from the time of day, whether from its plural, genitive, or the occasional adverbial sense of -s.
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Capitalized, Historical, Often The notional first-quarter day of a Roman month, occurring on the 7th day of the four original 31-day months (March, May, Quintilis or July, and October) and on the 5th day of all other months.
The third day before the nones of March is March 5th; the third nones of August is August 3rd; and the third of the nones of November is November 3rd.
Þa monðas þe habbað iiii nonas æfter kalendas... habbað to idus xiii dagas and to ii kalendas eahtatyne. Those months that have 4 nones after the kalends... have 13 days to the ides and eighteen to the second kalends.10th century, Byrhtferð of Ramsey, Enchiridion (Ashmolean MS 328), Book I, Chapter ii, Section 22
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Þe caniculer dayes biginnyth in þe fiftenþe kalendis of august and endiþ in þe nonis of septembris, and so þey ben euene fifty as it is seide þere. The canicular days begin on the fifteenth kalends of August [i.e., July 18th] and end on the nones [i.e., 5th] of September, and so they are even fifty as it is said there.14th century, John Trevisa trans. Bartholomaeus Anglicus's De Proprietatibus Rerum, folio 119
The Roman Month its several days divides By reckoning backwards, Calends, Nones, and Ides.1679, J. Moxon, Mathematics made Easie, page 26:
As for the Nones, it was thought that the multitudes should avoid mass meetings then because after the kings were expelled, the Roman people particularly celebrated what they took to be Servius Tullius's birthday: because crowds notoriously thronged all the Nones—it being well-known that Servius was born on the Nones, though the exact month was uncertain—those in charge of the calendar were afraid that if the whole population gathered on a market day it might start to revolt out of yearning for the king, and so they took the precaution of keeping the Nones and market days distinct.2011, Robert A. Kaster trans. Macrobius, Saturnalia, Book I, Chapter xiii, Section 18
[March, May, Quintilis, and October] also have their Nones on the seventh, as Numa ordained, because Julius changed nothing about them. As for January, Sextilis, and December, they still have their Nones on the fifth, though they began to have thirty-one days after Caesar added two days to each, and it is nineteen days from their Ides to the following Kalends, because in adding the two days Caesar did not want to insert them before either the Nones or the Ides, lest an unprecedented postponement mar religious observance associated with the Nones or Ides themselves, which have a fixed date.2011, Robert A. Kaster trans. Macrobius, Saturnalia, Book I, Chapter xiv, Section 8
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Capitalized, Historical, Sometimes The ninth hour after dawn (about 3 pm).
...the same Liturgy of prayers be used both at Nones and Vespers. [With the note:] Nones was what we call three o'clock in the afternoon.1709, John Johnson, The Clergy-Man's Vade Mecum, Pt. II, p. 101:
From noon till nones The brethren sate.1805, Robert Southey, Madoc, Vol. I, xiii, 134:
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Christianity The divine office appointed to the hour.
The Greek monks always listen to their reader recite Psalms 83, 84, and 85 from the Septuagint at nones.
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Alternative, Obsolete Alternative form of noon: the sixth hour after dawn; midday (12 pm).
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Obsolete Synonym of lunch: a meal eaten around noon.
I... ouer-seye me at my sopere and some tyme at nones.c. 1400, William Langland, The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman (Laud MS 581), v. 378
Etymology From their selection of the option None or None of the above on census returns or other surveys of religious affiliation.
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Those without any religious affiliation: atheists and others outside any organized religion.
The second is the “Nones” proper, those who in response to the question “What is your religious tradition, if any?” answer “None.” […] Even among the “Nones” only a small minority identify as atheist or agnostic. In fact, the vast majority of “Nones” claim beliefs and attitudes more like than unlike those of persons inside churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques.2004, Patricia O’Connell Killen, Introduction to Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone, page 17
The mobility of American society has done little or nothing to erode strong regional religious cultures such as those of the Catholics of the Northeast, the Lutherans of the Upper Midwest, the Baptists of the South and the “Nones” of the Pacific Northwest.2006, Barry A. Kosmin et al., Religion in a Free Market, pages xvi–xvii:
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He also found that the sons and daughters of two parents who have no religious preference (Nones) tend to become Nones.2011, James D. Davidson et al., Ranking Faiths: Religious Stratification in America, page 3:
Suppose that we administered a scale that measures support for capital punishment at the interval-ratio level to a randomly selected sample that includes Protestants, Catholics, Jews, people with no religious affiliation (“Nones”), and people from other religions (“Others”). […] Are Protestants significantly more supportive than Catholics or Jews? How do people with no religious affiliation compare to other people?2012, Joseph F. Healey, Statistics: A Tool for Social Research, 9th edition, page 242:
For example, in a 2008 report called American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population released by the respected ARIS (American Religious Identification Survey), one reads that “the Nones increased from 8.1 percent of the U.S. adult population in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008 and from 14 to 34 million adults. ...”2013, J. L. Schellenberg, Evolutionary Religion, page 136:
People with no religious affiliation are outliers, as there is a greater frequency of divorce among Nones married to Nones than Nones married to religious people.2013, Naomi Schaefer Riley, ‘Til Faith Do Us Part, page 122:
Nones
noun
Etymology From its center in the Non Valley.
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A dialect of Italian spoken in parts of Trentino around the Non Valley.