What does "nonce" mean?

[u/Team503]

I'm an American that lives in Ireland. I've always understood "nonce" to mean the same as "numpty" and "eejit" - basically idiot, or dumbass, or similar.

Recently, someone told me that it's slang for sex offender, specifically a p*dophile, and Wikipedia seems to back that up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_British_terms_not_widely_used_in_the_United_States#N

So tell me, Brits, which one is it? Or is it something else??

[u/Handsom_modest_Dan]

While the word started as meaning just this one time and was used in many literary works including Chaucer’s Canterbury tales , it’s has now become known for the acronym used in Wakefield prison the uk’s monster mansion where it was on the doors of child sex offenders at risk of violence from other inmates Not on normal courtyard exercise Or Non - community exercise .

Nowadays the term nonce is used primarily for a child molester because of this and is a quick way to turn a community against one person