Standard Lemma guide

né

adj · particle · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /neɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪ
  • homophone: Neagh
  • homophone: nay
  • homophone: neigh (pane–pain merger)

1

adj

Meaning 1

Used when giving the former name of a man.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, uncommon

Qualifier: usually italicised

Examples

  • Sting, né Gordon Sumner

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Used when giving a man's name of birth, which was legally changed after.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, uncommon

Qualifier: usually italicised

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

particle

Meaning 3

Yeah? not so? hey?

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: South-Africa

Examples

  • so I saw this girl né, and I wanted to talk to her...

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From French né, from Old French né, from Latin nātus, perfect active participle of nāscor (“to be born”). Doublet of nada.

Borrowed from Afrikaans nee.