nonce¹ / näns/ • adj. (of a word or expression) coined for or used on one occasion: a nonce usage.PHRASES: for the nonce for the present; temporarily: the room had been converted for the nonce into a nursery.nonce² • n. Brit., inf. a person convicted of a sexual offense, esp. child molesting.

nonce phr. for the nonce †for the particular purpose, expressly XII; for the occasion, for the time being XVI. ME. for þe nanes, alt. (by misdivision) of for þen anes, f. (with advb. -s) *for þen ane ‘for the one (purpose)’; cf. ONCE.

nonce (of a word or expression) coined for one occasion. The word derives (in Middle English) from then anes ‘the one (purpose)’, from then (obsolete form of the) + ane ‘one’, altered by misdivision.