Italian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Latin (not) +‎ ipse (emphatic, literally himself) +‎ ūnus (one), meaning “not even one”. Cognate with Neapolitan nisciuno, Sardinian nisciunu, Friulian nissun, Ligurian nisciǜn, and Old French neisune. Compare Spanish ninguno and Romanian niciun.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /nesˈsu.no/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -uno
  • Hyphenation: nes‧sù‧no

Determiner

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nessuno (feminine nessuna, no plural, superlative nessunissimo)

  1. (in negative sentences) no, any
    Synonyms: (informal) niente, (archaic, literary) nullo, (archaic, literary) veruno, (archaic, literary) niuno

Pronoun

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nessuno m sg (singular only, feminine nessuna)

  1. none
  2. (masculine only) no one, nobody

Usage notes

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  • The determiner has no plural form and is therefore only used with singular nouns. The pronoun is also a singulare tantum.
  • Before any grammatically connected word not beginning with s + consonant, cn, gn, pn, ps, x, or z, the masculine form nessuno changes into the apocopic form nessun, while the feminine form nessuna becomes nessun' before vowels:
nessun doloreno pain
nessun amicono friends
nessun'amicano (female) friends
nessun altronobody else

Synonyms

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