n
pronunciation
How to pronounce n in British English:
UK [en]
How to pronounce n in American English:
US [en]
-
- Noun:
- (of a solution) concentration expressed in gram equivalents of solute per liter
- a common nonmetallic element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless inert diatomic gas; constitutes 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume; a constituent of all living tissues
- the cardinal compass point that is at 0 or 360 degrees
- a unit of force equal to the force that imparts an acceleration of 1 m/sec/sec to a mass of 1 kilogram; equal to 100,000 dynes
- the 14th letter of the Roman alphabet
Word Origin
- N
- in nickname, newt, and British dialectal naunt, the -n- belongs to a preceding indefinite article an or possessive pronoun mine. Other examples of this from Middle English manuscripts include a neilond ("an island," early 13c.), a narawe ("an arrow," c. 1400), a nox ("an ox," c. 1400), a noke ("an oak," early 15c.), a nappyle ("an apple," early 15c.), a negge ("an egg," 15c.). In 16c., an idiot sometimes became a nidiot, which, with still-common casual pronunciation, became nidget, which, alas, has not survived. The process also worked in surnames, from oblique cases of Old English at "by, near," as in Nock/Nokes/Noaks from atten Oke "by the oak;" Nye from atten ye "near the lowland;" and see Nashville. But it is more common for an English word to lose an -n- to a preceding a: apron, auger, adder, umpire, humble pie, etc. The mathematical use of n for "an indefinite number" is first recorded 1852, in to the nth power.
Example
- 1. Those who responded to antidepressants ( n = 85 ) .
- 2. And sorting of n items would take n * log time .
- 3. In davis calif.a group of neighbors on n street did just that .
- 4. Because count is nested inside countto , n is visible to it .
- 5. The number of returned results may be adjusted using the n parameter .