nessuno
Italian
Etymology
From Latin nē (“not”) + ipse (emphatic, literally “himself”) + ūnus (“one”), meaning “not even one”. Cognate with Neapolitan nisciuno, Friulian nissun, Ligurian nisciǜn, and Old French neisune. Compare Spanish ninguno and Romanian niciun.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nesˈsu.no/, [neˈsːuːno]
- Hyphenation: nes‧sù‧no
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -uno
Adjective
nessuno m sg (feminine nessuna, superlative nessunissimo)
Synonyms
- (archaic, literary) nullo
- (archaic, literary) veruno
- (archaic, literary) chicchessia
Usage notes
- The adjectival form has no plural form and is therefore only used with singular nouns. The pronoun is also a singulare tantum.
- Before any grammatically connected word not beginning with s + consonant, cn, gn, pn, ps, x, or z, the masculine form nessuno changes into the apocopic form nessun, while the feminine form nessuna becomes nessun' before vowels:
- nessun dolore ― no pain
- nessun amico ― no friends
- nessun'amica ― no (female) friends
- nessun altro ― nobody else
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