Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Other. Usually used in the phrase a whole nother, as in the sentence That's a whole nother story.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Same as neither.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Other; -- variant spelling used mostly in the phrase a whole nother (i. e., a completely different), as though formed by splitting the word “another”.
  • conjunction obsolete Neither; nor.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • pronoun Caribbean Neither.
  • adjective Caribbean Neither.
  • adverb obsolete Nor.
  • pronoun obsolete Another.
  • adjective Different, other. (Now usually in a whole nother)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From alteration of another (interpreted as a nother).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English nōhwæþer. Compare neither, nauther.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Variant of other, showing metanalysis.

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Examples

  • "'Cause I should expect you'd give me somethin 'nother and make a great man of me!"

    The Hills of the Shatemuc 1856

  • But he presently heard the door of the locked room open, a man's voice, slightly elevated by liquor and opposition, saying, "I know what's due from one gen'leman to 'nother" -- a querulous, objecting voice saying,

    Under the Redwoods Bret Harte 1869

  • "To the ranter who whines about people saying" nother "- learn the difference between

    Courant.com Blogs 2009

  • However, even though you would probably not like to acknowledge it, we have a whole "nother" half of our state to the east.

    Sound Politics: Rasmussen 9/6 Poll: Cantwell +17 2006

  • Then there's the issue of bands who were one-hit wonders in the U.S. (or two-hit wonders) but are known on a whole nother level ( "nother" should be a world) in the UK.

    ev'rybody's work-in' for the week-end 2004

  • Thursday, April 12, 2001 x 2 - Key word here is 'nother'

    kelsi Diary Entry kelsi 2000

  • He was great source of worriment to my Mammy, ole lady Lucy Price and 'nother 'oman, ole lady Lucy Charles.

    Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves South Carolina Narratives, Part 2 Work Projects Administration

  • He shall pay that cent one way or 'nother 'fore he gets through.

    The Wall Between Sara Ware Bassett 1920

  • Don't eat with yer fingers -- don't grab no vittles off one 'nother's plates; don't reach out for nothin', but wait till yer asked, 'n' if you never _git_ asked don't git up and grab it.

    The Birds' Christmas Carol Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin 1889

  • Don't eat with yer fingers -- don't grab no vittles off one 'nother's plates; don't reach out for nothin', but wait till yer asked, 'n if yer never git asked don't git up and grab it -- don't spill nothin' on the table cloth, or like's not Mis 'Bird' ll send yer away from the table.

    The Birds' Christmas Carol 1886

Comments

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  • It may be metanalysis but it still gives me the heebie jeebies

    June 14, 2007

  • "That's a whole nother story."

    A corruption of the word another, where a is an article and nother has been divorced from it to become an adjective. Separate the two with a modifier and the deconstruction is complete.

    June 14, 2007

  • Much like kids who say they are "being hayve." :-)

    June 14, 2007

  • Funny usage out of the mouth of a babe (years ago--he will be married in a week) He nearly fell from a slide. After she caught him his mother said "Oh, Worth, you lost your balance." He pondered that for a day, then sidled up to his uncle and announced glumly "I have no balance. I lost my balance."

    June 14, 2007

  • True, of course, though one could argue that another is pronounced more like a nother than an other, due to the emphasis on the second syllable instead of the first. Doesn't make it right, but I can see where the mistake comes from.

    June 14, 2007

  • Yes it sounds like "a nother," but when one hears oneself referring to this thing called a "nother," what does the person believe a "nother" to be?

    June 14, 2007

  • According to dictionary.com, it's a parallel symbolic mathematics system. But I doubt they know that. ;-)

    June 14, 2007

  • Oh, that's good! Perhaps I should reconsider all of my cranky judgements.

    June 14, 2007