nonce

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the present occasion or time, chiefly in the phrase for the nonce

   The provisional rule was accepted for the nonce and reviewed later.

2. 2
   adj

   created or used for one particular occasion

   The author coined a nonce word to fit the unusual object.

3. 3
   noun

   computing and cryptography: a value used only once in a protocol or message

   The server rejects any request that repeats the same nonce.

The phrase for the nonce arose by rebracketing Middle English for then anes, "for the one occasion," in which anes was the genitive of one. The modern technical noun abbreviates "number used once."

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