nonplus

• non-plus

The noun is derived from Latin nōn plūs (“no further, no more”), from nōn (“not”) + plūs (“additionally, more; further”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)).[1]

The verb is derived from the noun.[2]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /nɒnˈplʌs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌnɑnˈplʌs/
• Rhymes: -ʌs
• Hyphenation: non‧plus

nonplus (plural nonpluses)

1. A state of bewilderment or perplexity.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter XLVI, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     [A]ltering Vaudemont, to Vallemontanus, and metamorphosing them, by suting them to the Græcian or Latin tongue, we know not what to make of them, and are often at a non-plus.

   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, →OCLC:

     Both of them are a perfect non-plus and baffle to all human understanding.

   • 1792, Charlotte Smith, Desmond, Broadview, published 2001, page 81:

     I believe they'd soon be put to a non-plus — You'd be quite too much for them, I'm sure.

• nonplussed (derived from either the noun or verb)

nonplus (third-person singular simple present nonplusses or nonpluses, present participle nonplussing or nonplusing, simple past and past participle nonplussed or nonplused)

1. (transitive) To bewilder or perplex (someone); to confound, to flummox.
   • 1934 October 5, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter II, in Right Ho, Jeeves, London: Herbert Jenkins […], →OCLC, page 24:

     You couldn’t have told it from my manner, but I was feeling more than a bit nonplussed. The spectacle before me was enough to nonplus anyone.

• nonplussation (obsolete, rare)
• nonplussed (derived from either the noun or verb)
• nonplusser (rare)
• nonplussing (adjective) (rare)