sinon

See also: si non and s-inon

French

Etymology

Contraction of Middle French si non. Compare Catalan sinó, Portuguese senão.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /si.nɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Conjunction

sinon

1. except, apart from

   Je ne sais pas grand-chose, sinon que je t'aime.

   I don't know much, except that I love you.

2. if not

   Même si je perdais la plupart de mes livres, il m'en resterait au moins une centaine, sinon plus.

   Even if I lost most of my books, I would still have at least a hundred, if not more.

3. otherwise, or else

Adverb

sinon

1. (colloquial, proscribed) also; additionally; furthermore; anyway

   Synonyms: d'ailleurs, d'autre part

   • 2017 March 2, Académie française, Sinon au sens de Par ailleurs, d’autre part‎^[1]:

     On ne dira donc pas, ce que l’on entend hélas trop souvent, il a un bel appartement à Paris, sinon il a aussi une maison en Vendée ; toute sa famille va bien, et, sinon, sa sœur vient de se marier.

     We will not say then, what we, alas, hear too often: he has a beautiful appartment in Paris, he also has a house in the Vendée too; his whole family is well, and, what's more, his sister just got married.

Further reading

• “sinon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• nions, Nison, nison, nonis, Sinno

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French sinon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sinɔ̃/

Conjunction

sinon

1. otherwise
2. besides

Related terms

• si

Spanish

Conjunction

sinon

1. Obsolete spelling of sino.