Nowadays

Part of speech: adverb

Pronunciation: /ˈnaʊ.ə.deɪz/

Definitions

1. In the present era, it pertains to circumstances or happenings that are current or contemporary
2. At this time period, it relates to the social, cultural, or economic aspects that define today
3. Referring to the present time as opposed to the past

Etymology: "Nowadays" is a compound of "now" and "adays," and the second half is the more interesting one. "Adays" is a survival of an older phrase "on days," meaning "by day" or "in the daytime," which came to be used with a sense of "at present" or "in these times." Over the centuries the two words were written together and the "a" fused onto the front of "days," producing a form that once sat comfortably beside "nowadays" and "todays" in everyday speech. The construction followed a pattern common in English, where adverbs were built from prepositions plus plural nouns, as in "nights" and "always" in older usage. The "-s" in "adays" is the remnant of that plural noun, which is why the word still ends in a sound that looks like a plural even though it no longer behaves like one.

Synonyms: currently, today, at present

Antonyms: formerly, previously