Kilo Lingo

/ʒamɛ/

Line drawing of jamais
Coloured illustration of jamais
#83 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

never, ever

Word origin

From Old French ja mais, a compound of ja ('already, ever', from Latin iam) and mais ('more', from Latin magis). The literal sense was 'ever again', which hardened into the negative 'never' in negative contexts.

Origin
Latin
Root
iam magis

Examples

' .

I've never seen such a beautiful film in my whole life.

.

I will never trust him/her again.

C' , ' .

It's the most beautiful day of my life, I'll never forget this.

réserve.

You never know what tomorrow has in store for us.

' goûté .

She had never tasted seafood before that trip.

Used in

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

This word is part of lesson 2.