I. ˈn(y)ü; in geographical names, before a stressed syllable often _n(y)ə ( as in n(y)əˈyȯ(ə) rk for “New York” ) or + V n(y)əw ( as in nyəˈwiŋglənd for “New England” ) adjective
( newer ˈn(y)üə(r); -u̇(ə)r, -u̇ə ; newest -üə̇st)
Etymology: Middle English new, newe, from Old English nīwe, nēowe, niewe; akin to Middle Dutch nieuwe, niewe, nūe new, Old Saxon & Old High German niuwi, Old Norse nȳr, Gothic niujis, Old Irish nūe, Welsh newydd, Latin novus, Greek neos, Sanskrit nava, navya, Lithuanian naujas, Old Slavic novŭ and probably to the root of English now
1. : having existed or having been made but a short time : having originated or occurred lately : not early or long in being : recent , fresh , modern — opposed to old
a new coat
a new regime
new fashions
2.
a. : having been seen or known but a short time although perhaps existing before : recently manifested, recognized, or experienced : novel
a new crop for this region
broadly : strange , unfamiliar
new doctrines
new concepts
liked to visit new places
b. : being other than the former or old : having freshly come into a relation (as use, connection, or function)
turn a new leaf
the new teacher
a new product
c. of land : undergoing or about to undergo cultivation for the first time
broke 10 acres of new ground that winter
d. : being the first or earliest available of the current season's crop
new potatoes
new peas are sometimes ready by July 4
3. : having been in a relationship, position, or condition but a short time and usually lacking full adaptation thereto
a new member
new from school
new to the plow
4.
a. : beginning or appearing as the recurrence, resumption, or repetition of a previous act or thing
a new year
a new start
a new edition
b. : renovated, recreated, regenerated
rest had made him a new man
5. : different or distinguished from a person, place, or thing of the same kind or name that has longer or previously existed
the new reservoir
the new theology
6.
a. : not of ancient lineage : of a family previously unknown or undistinguished : having recently acquired an improved status (as of rank or wealth)
a new family
the new rich
b. : of dissimilar origin and usually of superior quality to or capable of causing improvement in what preexists
introducing new blood into an ancient but outworn line
try a new strain of hybrid corn
7. usually capitalized , of a language : modern ; especially : having been in use after medieval times
Synonyms:
new , novel , new-fashioned , newfangled , neoteric , modern , modernistic , original , and fresh can apply to something very recently come into existence, employment, or recognition. new implies that the thing was not known, thought of, manufactured, or experienced before its advent or has only recently been acquired, employed, put to use, and so on
a new invention
a new type of adding machine
a new movie star
a new experience
a new pan
a new baby
a new president
novel applies to something that is not only new but also markedly out of the ordinary in its type of newness often to the point of seeming strange or startling
built a novel fort of parallel log walls filled with earth — American Guide Series: Minnesota
vacationists who like novel activities can sail to a remote part of the islands … for buried treasure — L.A.Werden
the book was novel to the point of seeming bizarre — W.L.Sperry
in a novel and highly photogenic setting — Rome's new, deluxe depot — Arthur Knight
the experiment of appointing as a teacher of law one who had never practiced the profession was novel — Samuel Williston b. 1861
new-fashioned suggests a newness of form, style, or character that challenges curiosity or that has been only recently popularly accepted
the type of old-fashioned scholarship … the type of new-fashioned criticism — S.E.Hyman
the new-fashioned girl in light, comfortable clothes
newfangled is disparaging in suggesting unnecessary or objectionable and usually ingenious novelty
its villages have avoided any incongruous newfangled type of building — S.P.B.Mais
quite a modern hostelry for its time. It had such newfangled doodads as mechanical dishwashers and potato peelers — Green Peyton
the empress Tzu Hsi, who again seized the reins of government and revoked all the newfangled regulations — Olga Lang
modern and the now rare or literary neoteric imply a belonging to the present time in a broad sense or to the present era, often suggesting up-to-dateness and sometimes novelty
Pineville is even more modern in appearance, most of its residences having been rebuilt after a destructive cyclone in 1923 — American Guide Series: Louisiana
telephone line, house, and highway, although giving the modern touch, are far from being truly up-to-date — G.R.Stewart
pianoforte compositions. In these, Bach is more modern than Haydn, Mozart or even Beethoven — Encyc. Americana
modern English dates from the 16th century
the modern era in geology covers many thousands of years
a girl anxious to be considered modern, not oldfashioned
neoteric brass playing by a group of young men who are obviously fond of J. S. Bach — Wilder Hobson
modernistic , sometimes interchangeable with modern , usually adds to modern a contemptuous suggestion of the ephemerally novel
his adoption of many modernistic harmonic procedures makes his works tantalizing by the very incongruity of their essence and their idiom — Nicolas Slonimsky
the jury … felt called upon to point out that Conway's work was “in no way modernistic, though distinctly modern” — Time
when I refer to modern music, I do not mean necessarily “ modernistic” music, much of which is a pale afterglow of the great and original modernism of yesteryear — Virgil Thomson
original applies to what is or produces something new, novel, and the first of its kind
the Aztec character was perfectly original and unique — W.H.Prescott
the would-be original veers perilously towards the extravagant and the eccentric — J.L.Lowes
an interesting and original mind that despised imitation
fresh in this connection applies to what is new and still retaining a first liveliness, energy, virginal quality, and so on
a fresh and vital painting
a lively and fresh active mind
a fresh point of view upon an old problem
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English new, newe, from Old English nīwe, from nīwe, nēowe, nīewe, adjective
1. : a new thing : something new
the new ever supplants the old
especially : the first phase
in the new of the moon
2. : freshness , newness
wear the new off these shoes
III. adverb
Etymology: Middle English new, newe, from Old English nīwe, from nīwe, nēowe, nīewe, adjective
: newly , recently , anew , afresh
grass new washed by rain
— often used in combination
new -mown