nous

See also: Nous

English

Alternative forms

• noos

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek νοῦς (noûs) or νόος (nóos, “mind”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: nous, IPA^(key): /naʊs/
• Rhymes: -aʊs

• (US) enPR: noo͞s, IPA^(key): /nuːs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

nous (uncountable)

1. (philosophy) The mind or intellect, reason, both rational and emotional
   • 1900, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, On the Disastrous Spread of Aestheticism in all Classes

     I feel the will to roam, to learn

     By test, experience, nous,

     That fire is hot and ocean deep,

     And wolves carnivorous.

2. In Neoplatonism, the divine reason, regarded as first divine emanation.
3. Common sense; practical intelligence.
   • 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, I [Uniform ed., p. 19]:

     There is nothing original in absent-mindedness. True originally lies elsewhere. Really, the lower classes have no nous.

Related terms

• paranoia
• noesis
• noogenesis
• noology
• noosphere
• nootropic

Translations

reason in philosophy

• Bulgarian: разум (bg) m (razum)
• Dutch: nous (nl) n
• French: nous (fr) m

• German: Nous
• Swedish: nous (sv), förnuft (sv)

Anagrams

• Onsu, Osun, Suon, UNOS, Unos, onus, ouns

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Catalan

Etymology 1

Adjective

nous

1. masculine plural of nou (new)

Etymology 2

Noun

nous

1. plural of nou (nines)

Etymology 3

Noun

nous

1. plural of nou (nuts)

Etymology 4

Verb

nous

1. second-person singular present indicative form of noure

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nu/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophones: noue, noues, nouent

Etymology 1

From Middle French nous, from Old French nous, nos, from Latin nōs, from Proto-Italic *nōs.

In several dialects of French, je may be used instead of nous (j'allons instead of nous allons, je voyons instead of nous voyons etc.), this use was perceived as peasant-like and thus often mocked since the 15th century (for example by Molière). However this use survived and spread in various regions of the so-called domaine d'oïl (linguistic area starting above Auvergne where the oïl varieties of Romance developed from the 4th or 5th century). The regions of France where this use of je (from Latin ego "I") instead of nous, nos (from Latin nos, "we") was recorded are Normandy, Romance-speaking Brittany, Poitou and Anjou, Champagne, Ardennes, Bourgogne and Franche-Comté, Dauphiné, Berry, Touraine, Orléanais, Bourbonnais, Maine. See cognates in regional languages in France: Angevin je and nous, Bourbonnais-Berrichon je and nous, Bourguignon i and nous, Champenois ju and nous, Franc-Comtois i and nôs, Gallo je and nouz, Lorrain nos, Norman je and nos, Orléanais je and nous, Picard nos, Poitevin-Saintongeais jhe and nous, Tourangeau je and nos, Franco-Provençal nos, Occitan nosautres (Provençal nousautes), Catalan nosaltres, Corsican noi.

Pronoun

nous

1. The plural personal pronoun in the first person:
   1. (subject pronoun) we.
   2. (object pronoun) us, to us.

Derived terms

• entre nous
• nous autres
• nous de majesté

Related terms

French personal pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative (subject)	Accusative (direct complement)	Dative (indirect complement)	Locative (at)	Genitive (of)	Disjunctive (tonic)
Singular	First	—	je, j’	me, m’		—	—	moi
	Second	—	tu	te, t’		—	—	toi
	Third	Masculine	il	le, l’	lui	y	en	lui
		Feminine	elle	la, l’				elle
		Indeterminate	on1	—	—	—	—	—
		Reflexive	—	se, s’4		—	—	soi4
Plural	First	—	nous	nous		—	—	nous
	Second	—	vous2	vous2,3		—	—	vous2
	Third	Masculine	ils3	les	leur	y	en	eux3
		Feminine	elles					elles

¹ Also used as the first person plural.

² Also used as the polite singular form.

³ Also used when a group has both men and women.

⁴ Also used as third person plural reflexive.

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek νοῦς (noûs) or νόος (nóos, “mind”).

Noun

nous m (plural nous)

1. The nous, (divine) reason in philosophy.

Further reading

• “nous” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French nous.

Pronoun

nous

1. we (subject pronoun)
2. ourselves (reflexive pronoun)

Descendants

• French: nous

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Old French

Etymology

From Latin nōs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nus/

Pronoun

nous

1. Alternative form of nos

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Picard

Etymology

From Old French nous.

Pronoun

nous

1. we