nonnat 
by a diaphanous body covered with large and 
thin deciduous scales, common on some parts 
of the European coast, especially in the Med- 
iterranean and the Black Sea. It lives in iuuumer- 
able schools, and serves as food for many fishes and sea- 
birds as well as other animals, and on the borders of the 
Mediterranean is largely used by man. In the vicinity of 
Nice it is the object of a special fishery, particularly dur- 
ing the month of March, the small fishes being considered 
a very dainty dish. The fish rarely exceeds an inch and a 
half in length. It is believed to complete its cycle of life 
within a year. Under the name nonnat the young of other 
fishes, especially of the families Clupeidce and Atfterin-idos, 
are liable to be confounded. 
non-natural (non-nat'u-ral), . and . I. a. Not 
natural; unnatural; strained or forced. 
I refer to the doctrine there promulgated touching the 
subscription of religious articles in a non-natural sense. 
Sir W. Hamilton. 
II. . That which is not natural; specifical- 
ly, something which does not enter into the 
composition of the body, but which is essential 
to animal life and health, and by accident or 
abuse often becomes a cause of disease. See 
the quotation. 
The non-naturals, as he [Dr. Jackson] would sometimes 
call them, after the old physicians namely, air, meat and 
drink, sleep and watching, motion and rest, the retentions 
and excretions, and the affections of the mind. 
0. W. Holmes, Med. Essays, p. 307. 
nonnet, " A Middle English form of nun. 
non-necessity (non-ne-ses'i-ti), n. Absence of 
necessity; the state or property of being un- 
necessary. 
non-noble (non-no 'bl), a. and n. I. a. Not no- 
ble ; not of the nobility. 
To levy from the rum-noble class, as well as from the 
knightly. Hewitt. 
II. . A person not of noble birth ; a citizen 
or peasant. 
nonnock (non'ok), n. [< nonn(y) + -ock.] A 
whim. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
nonnock (non'ok), v.i. [<nonnock, .] Totrifle; 
idle away the time. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
nonny 1 (non'i), n. ; pi. nannies (-iz). [An un- 
meaning refrain repeated nonny-itonny, nony- 
nony, itonino, which was also used (like other 
orig. unmeaning syllables) as a cover for in- 
delicate allusions. Cf. ninny. ~\ If. A meaning- 
less burden in old English ballads and glees, 
generally "hey, nonny." It was similar to the 
fa, la of madrigals. 
They bore him barefaced on the bier ; 
Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny. 
Shale., Hamlet, iv. 5. 166. 
2. A whim. [Prov. Eng.] 
nonny 2 (non'i), w. [Cf. ninny. ] A ninny; a 
simpleton. 
non-obedience (nou-o-be'di-ens), n. Neglect 
of obedience. 
non-observance (non-ob-zer'vans), n. Neglect 
or failure to observe or fulfil. 
non obstante (non ob-stan'te). [L.: non, not; 
obstante, abl. of obstan( t-)s, ppr. of obstare, stand 
in the way, oppose: see obstacle.'] Notwith- 
standing ; in opposition to what has been stated 
or admitted or is to be stated or admitted. The 
most common use of the words is to denote a clause, for- 
merly frequent in English statutes and letters patent, im- 
porting a license from the sovereign to do a thing which 
at common law might be lawfully done, but being re- 
strained by act of Parliament could not be done without 
such license. Non obstante veredlcto, a Judgment 
sometimes entered by order of the court lor the plaintiff, 
notwithstanding the verdict for the defendant, or vice 
versa. See judgment. 
nonogenarian, a. and n. See nonagenarian. 
non-oscine (non-os'in), a. Notoscine; not be- 
longing to the Oscines, or not conforming to nor- 
mal oscine characters. 
nonpairellt, a. See nonpareil. 
Non-palliata (non-pal-i-a'ta), n. pi. [NL., < 
non- + Palliata.'] A suborder of opisthobran- 
chiate euthyneural gastropods having no man- 
tle-flap nor shell in the adult: contrasted with 
Palliata: synonymous with Nudibranchiata. 
nonpareil (non-pa-rel'), a. and n. [Formerly 
also nonpairell; = Sp. nomparel, n. ; < F. non- 
pareil, nompareil, not equal (fern, nonpareille, a 
kind of type, ribbon, pear, etc.), < non. not (see 
nonS), +.pareil, equal: see pareil."] I. a. Hav- 
ing no equal; peerless. 
The most nonpareil beauty of the world, beauteous 
knowledge, standeth unregarded, or cloistered up in mere 
speculation. Whitlock, Manners of Eng. People. 
II. . A person or thing of peerless excel- 
lence; a nonesuch; something regarded as 
unique in its kind. 
O, such love 
( ould be but recompensed, though you were crown'd 
The nonpareil of beauty ! Shale., T. \., i. 5 273 
4014 
The paragon, the nonpareil 
Of Seville, the most wealthy mine of Spain 
For beauty and perfection. 
Fletcher (and another), Love's Cure, iii. 2. 
Specifically (o) In ornith. : (1) The painted finch orpaintcd 
bunting, Passerina or Cyanospiza ciris: so called from its 
beauty. The top and sides of the head and neck are rich- 
blue, the back golden-green, the rump and under parts 
vermilion-red. The female is greenish above, yellowish be- 
low. The bird is about 5J inches long, and common in 
the South Atlantic and Gulf States, especially Louisiana, 
where it is sometimes called pape or pope. It is a near rela- 
tive of the indigo-bird and the lazuli-flnch. Also called 
incomparable. 
A nonpareil hidden in the branches sat whistling plain- 
tively to its mate. 
F. -R. Goulding, Young Marooners, xxxvi. 
(2) The rose- or rosella-parrakeet, Platycercus eximius : so 
called from its beauty. See cut under rosella. (fe) In conch., 
a gastropod of the genus Clausilia. (c) In printing, a size 
of type, forming about 12 lines to the inch. In the Ameri- 
can system of sizes it is intermediate between minion 
(larger) and agate (smaller); in the English system it is be- 
tween the sizes emerald (larger) and ruby (smaller). (The 
type of this paragraph is nonpareil.) 
non-payment (non -pa ment), n. Neglect or 
failure of payment. 
non-performance (non-per-for'mans), n. A 
failure or neglect to perform. 
They were justly charged with an actual non-perform- 
ance of what the law requires. South. 
non-placental (non-pla-sen'tal), a. Not hav- 
ing a placenta; aplacental, as the marsupials 
and monotremes. See aplacental. 
nonplus (non'plus), n. [s L. nonplus, not more : 
non, not ; plus, more : see nonS a,naplus.] A state 
in which one is unable to proceed or decide ; a 
state of perplexity; a puzzled condition; in- 
ability to say or do more ; puzzle : usually in the 
phrase at or to a nonplus. 
n y perdtt son Latin : He was there gravelled, plunged, 
or at a Non-plus; he knew not what to make of or what to 
say unto it. Cotgrave. 
If he chance to be at a nonplia, he may help himself 
with his beard and handkerchief. 
Shirley, Love Tricks, iii. 5. 
They could not, if they would, undertake such a busi- 
ness, without danger of being questioned upon their lives 
the next parliament. This did put the Lords to a great 
nonplus. Court and Times of Charles I., I. 118. 
nonplus (non'plus), v. t.; pret. and pp. non- 
plussed, ppr. nonplussing. [< nonplus, .] To 
perplex; puzzle; confound; put to a stand- 
still ; stop by embarrassment. 
Now non-vlust, if to re-inforce thy Camp 
Thou fly for succour to thine Ayery Damp. 
Sylvetter, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Ark. 
In the Becket correspondence the reader is often non- 
plussed by finding a provoking etcetera, which marks the 
point at which the gossip, or even the serious news, was 
expunged by the editor. 
Stubbi, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 128. 
non possumus (noil pos'u-mus). [L.,we cannot : 
non, not; possumus, 1st pers. pi. pres. ind. of 
posse, can.] A plea of inability (to consider or 
do something) : as, he simply interposed a non 
possumus ; a papal non possumus. 
non-powert (non-pou'er), n. [ME. nonepower, 
nounpower, < OF. nonpooir, nonpoeir, lack of 
power, < non, not, + pooir, etc., power: see 
power.] Lack of power; impotence. 
And nat of the nounpower of god that he nys f ul of myghte. 
Piers Plowman (C), xx. 292. 
Upon thilke side that power fayleth whych that make 
th foolk blysful, ryht on that same side nonepower en- 
treth undyrnethe that inaketh hem wrechches. 
Chaucer, Boethius, iii. prose v. 
non-professional (non-pro-fesh'on-al), a. 1. 
Not belonging to a profession ; riot done by or 
proceeding from professional men. 2. Hence, 
not proper to be done by a member of the pro- 
fession concerned ; unprofessional. 
non-proficient (non-pro-fish'ent), n. One who 
has failed to improve or make progress in any 
study or pursuit. 
non pros, (non pros). An abbreviation of non 
prosequitur: sometimes used as a verb: to fail 
to prosecute ; let drop: said of a suit. 
non prosequitur (non pro-sek'wi-ter). [L., 
he does not prosecute : non, not ; prosequitur, 
3d pers. sing. pres. ind. otprosequi, follow up, 
prosecute : see prosecute.] In law, a common- 
law judgment entered against the plaintiff when 
he does not prosecute his action. 
non-recurrent (non-re-kur'ent), a. 1. Not oc- 
curring again. 2. Not turning back: as, the 
recurrent and non-recurrent branches of the 
pneumogastric nerve. 
non-recurring (non-re-ker'ing), a. Non-recur- 
rent. 
non-regardance (non-re-gar'dans), n. Want 
of due regard ; slight ; disregard. Shale., T. N., 
v. 1. 124. 
nonsense-name 
non-regent (non-re'jent), n. In a medieval uni- 
versity, a master of arts whose regency has 
ceased House of non-regents. See housei. 
non-residence (non-rez'i-dens), . 1. The fact 
of not residing or having one's abode within a 
particular jurisdiction: as, non-residence stands 
in the way of his appointment. 2. Failure to 
reside where official duties require one to reside; 
a, residing away from the place in which one 
is required by law or the duties of his office or 
station to reside, as a clergyman's living away 
from his pastorate or charge, or a landlord's not 
living on his own estate or in his own country, 
etc. 
Hating that they who have preach'd out Bishops, Pre- 
lats, and Canonists, should, in what serves thir own ends, 
retain thir fals Opinions, thir Pharisaical Leven, thir Ava- 
rice, and closely, thir Ambition, thir Pluralities, thir 
Non residences, thir odious Fees. 
Milton, Touching Hirelings. 
If the character of persons chosen into the Church had 
been regarded, there would be fewer complaints of non- 
residence. Swift. 
non-resident (non-rez'i-dent), a. and n. I. a. 
1. Not residing within the jurisdiction. 2. 
Not residing on one's own estate, in one's pas- 
torate, or in one's proper place : as, a non-resi- 
dent clergyman or land-owner. 
II. . 1 . One who does .not reside within the 
jurisdiction. 2. One who does not reside on 
his own lands or in the place where his official 
duties require, as a clergyman who lives away 
from his cure. 
As soon as the Bishops, and those Clergymen whom 
they daily inveighed against, and branded with the odious 
Names of Pluralists and Non-residents, were taken out of 
their way, they presently jump, some into two, some into 
three of their best Benefices. 
Milton, Answer to Salmasius, i. 29. 
There are not ten clergymen in the kingdom who . . . 
can be termed non-residents. Su^ft, Against the Bishops. 
non-resistance (non-re-zis'tans), n. The ab- 
sence of resistance ; passive obedience ; sub- 
mission to authority, even if unjustly exercised, 
without physical opposition. In English history, 
this principle was strenuously upheld by many of the Tory 
and High-Church party about the end of the seventeenth 
century. 
The slavish principles of passive obedience and non re- 
sistance, which had skulked perhaps in some old homily 
before King James the first. Bolingbroke, Parties, viii. 
The church might be awed or cajoled into any practical 
acceptation of its favourite doctrine of non-resistance. 
C. Knight. 
non-resistant (non-re-zis'tant), a. and n. I. a. 
Making no resistance to power or oppression ; 
passively obedient. 
This is that I Kdipus whose wisdom can reconcile incon- 
sistent opposites, and teach passive obedience and non- 
resistant principles to despise government, and to fly in 
the face of sovereign authority. Arbuthnot. 
II. n. 1. Onewhomaintainsthatnoresistance 
should be made to sovereign authority, even 
when unjustly exercised. 2. One who holds 
that violence should never be resisted by force. 
non-resisting (non-re-zis'ting), a. Making no 
resistance ; offering no obstruction : as, a non- 
resisting medium. 
Non-ruminantia (non-ro-mi-nan'shi-a), n. pi. 
[NL., < non- + Ruminantia.~] Those artiodactyl 
quadrupeds which do not chew the cud, as swine 
and hippopotamuses. 
non-sane (non-san'), a. Unsound; not per- 
fect: as, a person of non-sane memory. JJlack- 
stone. 
nonsense (non'sens), n. [< non- + sense."] 1. 
Not sense ; that which makes no sense or is 
lacking in sense; language or words without 
meaning, or conveying absurd or ridiculous 
ideas; absurd talk or senseless actions. 
Away with it rather, because it will bee hardly supply'd 
with a more unprofitable nonsence then is in some pas- 
sages of it to be scene. Milton, Animadversions. 
I try'd if Books would cure my Love, but found 
Love made them Nonsense all. 
Cowley, The Mistress, The Incurable. 
If a Man must endure the noise of Words without Sense, 
I think the Women have more Musical Voices, and become 
Sonsense better. Cmgreve, Double-Dealer, i. 1. 
None but a man of extraordinary talents can write first- 
rate nonsense. De Quincey, Secret Societies, i. 
2. Trifles ; things of no importance. 
What royal Nonsence is a Diadem 
Abroad, for One who 's not at home supreme ! 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, v. 1. 
Yon sharn stuff, there is an end of you you must pack 
off, along with plenty of other nonsense. W. Black. 
= Syn. Folly, stuff, twaddle, balderdash, 
nonsense-name (non 'sens- nam), . A name 
having no meaning in itself; a "made" noun 
having no etymology. The number of such words in 
zoology is very considerable, since many naturalists have 
