† nocesn.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman neces, neoces, noces, noeces and Old French noces, noeces wedding (beginning of the 12th cent.), wedding celebration (c1150; Middle French, French †nopces , noces ) < an unattested post-classical Latin alteration (with -o- after an unattested post-classical Latin derivative of classical Latin novus new adj. denoting a newly-wed; compare novio n.) of classical Latin nuptiae wedding (see nuptial adj. and n.). Compare Old Occitan nosas.The singular form without final -s is only rarely attested in Old French and Middle French, although it is apparently reflected in the following Middle English example, in the sense ‘feasting, celebration’:c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 93 Þat þe womman fel in to desert bitokneþ þat holy chirche departeþ hir fro þe delices of þis werlde & þe noise [Fr. noese] in to lijf of penaunce. Compare also the following isolated borrowing as unassimilated loan of modern French noce (singular), also in the sense ‘wedding’:1865 Visct. Milton & W. B. Cheadle N.-W. Passage by Land iii. 49 As we had some curiosity to see a ‘noce’, we agreed..and walked to the house.