English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:

not

Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English not, nat, variant of noght, naht (“not, nothing”), from Old English *nōht, nāht (“nought, nothing”), short for nōwiht, nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “not anything”), corresponding to ne (“not”) + ōwiht, āwiht (“anything”), corresponding to ā (“ever, always”) + wiht (“thing, creature”). Cognate with Scots nat, naucht (“not”), Saterland Frisian nit (“not”), West Frisian net (“not”), Dutch niet (“not”), German nicht (“not”). Compare nought, naught and aught. More at no, wight, whit.

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation)
  • IPA^(key): /nɒt/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (General American)
  • IPA^(key): /nɑt/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒt
• Homophone: knot
• Homophone: naught, nought (cot–caught merger)

Adverb[edit]

not (not comparable)

1. Negates the meaning of the modified verb.
   • 1973 November 17, Richard Milhous Nixon, Orlando press conference:

     People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.

   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 59:

     The sound of Abba singing 'Dancing Queen' had started up in a room the other side of the court. Adrian slammed the window shut.
     ‘That'll teach you to throw things out of the window,’ said Gary.
     ‘It'll teach me not to throw things out of the window.’

   • 1998 January 26, William Jefferson Clinton, White House press conference:

     I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Oh, Pete. This is not the gym. — That’s right, Anna. This is the mailroom.

     Audio (US)

     (file)

   Did you take out the trash? No, I did not.

   Not knowing any better, I went ahead.

2. To no degree.

   That is not red; it's green.

   It's not you, it's me.

3. (understatement, litotes) Used to modify superlatives to indicate the opposite or near opposite, often in a form of understatement.

   That day was not the best day of my life.

   It was not my favorite movie of all time.

Usage notes[edit]

In modern usage, do-support requires that the form do not ... (or don’t ...) be preferred to ... not for all but a short list of verbs (be, have, can, shall, will, would, may, must, need, ought):

• They do not sow. (modern) vs. They sow not. (KJB)

American usage tends to prefer don’t have or haven’t got to have not or haven’t, except when have is used as an auxiliary (or in the idiom have-not):

• I don’t have a clue or I haven’t got a clue. (US)
• I haven’t a clue or I haven’t got a clue. (outside US)
• I haven’t been to Spain. (universal)

The verb need is only directly negated when used as an auxiliary, and even this usage is rare, especially in the US.

• You don’t need to trouble yourself. (common)
• You needn’t trouble yourself. (outside US, rare)
• I don’t need any eggs today. (universal)

The verb dare can sometimes be directly negated.

• I daren't do that.

The verb do, as a main verb, takes do not.

• He does not do that.

In the imperative, all verbs, including be, take do not.

• Don't do that.
• Don't be silly. (not *Be not silly.)

In the infinitive, verbs must be negated directly. In this case not cannot appear after the verb; some authorities recommend placing it before to to avoid a split infinitive, but for most speakers the forms not to do and to not do are more or less interchangeable, with the latter being mostly informal.

• The objective is not to lose or The objective is to not lose.
• I wanted not to go or I wanted to not go. (Note the difference between this and I didn't want to go, where want is the verb being negated.)

Derived terms[edit]

• not to put too fine a point on it

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

not

1. And not.

   I wanted a plate of shrimp, not a bucket of chicken.

   He painted the car blue and black, not solid purple.

Usage notes[edit]

• The construction “A, not B” is synonymous with the constructions “A, and not B”; “not B, but A”; and “not B, but rather A”.

Translations[edit]

Interjection[edit]

not!

1. (slang, 1990s) Used to indicate that the previous phrase was meant sarcastically or ironically.

   I really like hanging out with my little brother watching Barney... not!

   Sure, you're perfect the way you are... not!

Synonyms[edit]

• bender, I don't think

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

• Appendix:American Dialect Society words of the year

Noun[edit]

not (plural nots)

1. Alternative letter-case form of NOT

Usage notes[edit]

Boolean operators and states are commonly written in all uppercase in order to distinguish them from the ordinary uses of the words.

Translations[edit]

Contraction[edit]

not

1. (obsolete) Contraction of ne wot; not to know.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Geoffrey Chaucer, The Knight's Tale.

     I noot which was the fairer of hem two

See also[edit]

References[edit]

• not at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams[edit]

• -ton, NTO, ONT, Ont, Ont., TNO, TON, on't, ton

Albanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From notoj.

Noun[edit]

not m

1. swim

Related terms[edit]

• notoj (“to swim”), bën not (“to swim”)

Aromanian[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Greek νότος (nótos).

Alternative forms[edit]

• Not

Noun[edit]

not m

1. dry wind from the south

Synonyms[edit]

• iug

See also[edit]

• vimtu
• sud/Sud
• livã
• austru

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

not

1. Alternative form of anot to swim

Etymology 3[edit]

From anot (“I swim”). Compare Italian nuoto, Portuguese nado.

Noun[edit]

not m

1. swim, swimming

Synonyms[edit]

• notalui

Danish[edit]

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

not

Wikipedia ^da

Etymology 1[edit]

From German Nut.

Noun[edit]

not c (singular definite noten, plural indefinite noter)

1. (mechanics) A groove.

Inflection[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

Not (fiskeri)

Wikipedia ^da

From Norwegian not.

Noun[edit]

not class /n (singular definite noten or notet, plural indefinite noter or not)

1. (fishing) seine net

   Synonym: snurpenot

Inflection[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

• snurpenot

Etymology 3[edit]

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb[edit]

not

1. imperative of note

Icelandic[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /nɔːt/
• Rhymes: -ɔːt

Noun[edit]

not n pl (plurale tantum)

1. use

Declension[edit]

Synonyms[edit]

• (use): gagn, notkun

Derived terms[edit]

• koma að notum (to be of use, to be useful)

Related terms[edit]

• nota (“to use”)

Luxembourgish[edit]

Adjective[edit]

not

1. strong/weak nominative/accusative neuter singular of no

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈnuːt/ (example of pronunciation)

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse nót.^[1]

Noun[edit]

not f (definite singular nota, indefinite plural nøter, definite plural nøtene)

1. Alternative spelling of nót

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle Low German.^[1]

Noun[edit]

not f (definite singular nota, indefinite plural noter, definite plural notene)

1. Alternative spelling of nót

Etymology 3[edit]

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun[edit]

not

1. (dialectal, Trøndelag and Northern Norway) Apocopic form of note

References[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

• ton

Old English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• nōt

Etymology[edit]

From Latin nota.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /not/

Noun[edit]

not m (nominative plural notas)

1. a sign; mark; a mark made on an object

Declension[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• Middle English: note, noote
  • Scots: note
  • English: note

Old Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse nót, from Proto-Germanic *nōtō.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /noːt/

Noun[edit]

nōt f

1. net, seine

Declension[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• Swedish: not

Romansch[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran) notg

Etymology[edit]

From Latin noctem, accusative of nox, from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.

Noun[edit]

not f (plural nots)

1. (Puter, Vallader) night

Scottish Gaelic[edit]

Noun[edit]

not m (genitive singular not, plural notaichean)

1. Alternative form of nota.
2. Alternative form of nota.

Swedish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈnuːt/

Noun[edit]

not c

1. (music) note.
2. a short message; note.
3. (diplomacy) a formal message from a country to another country’s embassy.

Declension[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

• ont, ton

Tok Pisin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English North.

Noun[edit]

not

1. North

Turkish[edit]

Noun[edit]

not (definite accusative notu, plural notlar)

1. a short message; note

   Not: Seni seviyorum. ― PS: I love you.

Declension[edit]