not

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See also: Not, NOT, nòt, nót, nôt, nốt, nőt, not., and Appendix:Variations of "not"

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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

Adverb

not (not comparable)

  1. Negates the meaning of the modified verb.
    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. (litotes) Used to indicate the opposite or near opposite, often in a form of understatement.
    That day was not the best day of my life. (meaning the day was bad or awful)
    It was not my favorite movie of all time. (meaning the speaker dislikes or strongly dislikes the movie)
    In the not too distant future my view on the matter might be not a million miles away from yours.
  4. Used before a noun phrase or pronominal phrase to denote an aversion to its presence or occurrence.
    Oh god, not that! Anything but that!
  5. (informal) Used before a determiner phrase or a non-finite clause (especially a gerund-participial clause) to convey some attitude (such as surprise, criticism, or embarrassment) towards someone or something, without conveying negation. [attested since the late 2000s, popularized around 2020][1]
    Not me writing example sentences again! (≈Oh my, there I go writing example sentences again!)
    • 2023 December 9, “Keke Palmer and Darius Jackson: A Complete Relationship Timeline”, in Glamour‎[1]:
      [Keke] Palmer tells Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager to “mind y'all's business” when they ask about her relationship with [Darius] Jackson. ¶ “Not y’all trying to get into it! They trying it on the Today show,” Palmer joked when the subject was first brought up on Today With Hoda & Jenna.

Usage notes

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; this usage is rare in the US but common elsewhere.

  • You don’t need to trouble yourself. (common in US)
  • You needn’t trouble yourself. (common outside US)
  • 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.)

In the subjunctive mood, do-support is not used for negation; not is placed by itself, or with should, immediately before the verb it modifies, even be:

  • They suggested that he (should) not do it.
  • The law requires that it (should) not be done.

Derived terms

negates meaning of verb

Translations

Conjunction

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

  • 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

Interjection

not!

  2. (slang) Used to indicate that the previous phrase was meant sarcastically or ironically. [chiefly 1990s]
    I really like hanging out with my little brother watching Barney … not!
    Sure, you’re perfect the way you are … not!
    • 1911 March, Zane Grey, “Out on the Field”, in The Young Pitcher, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC, page 64:
      You've got a swell chance to make this [baseball] team, you have, not! Third base is my job, Freshie. Why, you tow-head, you couldn't play marbles. You butter-finger, can't you stop anything?
    • 1949, E.E 'Doc' Smith, chapter XIV, in Skylark of Valeron, London: Panther, published 1974, page 134:
      "See?" "Uh-huh! Clear and lucid to the point of limpidity - 'not."
    • 2006 May 2, Steve Goldfarb, “Spilling out drops of wine at the Seder”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated‎[2] (Usenet):
      Because, of course, sympathy is finite -- and if you use it up on the wrong person then you won't have any left. Not.

Synonyms

Translations

Translations

See also

Noun

not (plural nots)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of NOT

Usage notes

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

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ Guilherme M. C. Pereira (2023 December 19) “Not me getting with the times: A new kind of not-fragment in English”, in Yale Working Papers in Grammatical Diversity, volume 5, number 1, Yale University Department of Linguistics

Further reading

  • “not”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

Albanian

Etymology

From notoj.

Noun

not m

  1. swim

Ambonese Malay

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Dutch uitnodiging.

Verb

not

  1. to invite

Noun

not

  1. invitation
    Beta dapat not par pigi makang patiti.
    I received an invitation for dinner.

References

  • D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998) Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia‎[3], Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa

Aromanian

Etymology 1

From Greek νότος (nótos).

Alternative forms

Noun

not m

  1. dry wind from the south
Synonyms

See also

Etymology 2

Verb

not first-singular present indicative

  1. Alternative form of anot to swim

Etymology 3

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

Noun

not m

  1. swim, swimming
Synonyms

Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia da

Etymology 1

From German Nut.

Noun

not c (singular definite noten, plural indefinite noter)

  2. (mechanics) A groove.
Inflection
Declension of not
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative not noten noter noterne
genitive nots notens noters noternes

Etymology 2

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia da

From Norwegian not.

Noun

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

  1. (fishing) seine net
    Synonym: snurpenot
Inflection
Declension of not
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative not noten
notet 		noter
not 		noterne
notene
genitive nots notens
notets 		noters
nots 		noternes
notenes
Derived terms

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

not

  1. imperative of note

German

Pronunciation

Adverb

not

  1. Only used in nottun

Icelandic

Pronunciation

Noun

not n pl (plurale tantum)

  1. use

Declension

declension of not
n-s plural
indefinite definite
nominative not notin
accusative not notin
dative notum notunum
genitive nota notanna

Synonyms

Derived terms

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia id

Etymology

From Dutch noot, from Middle Dutch note, from Old French note, from Latin nota. Doublet of nota.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnɔt/
  • Hyphenation: not

Noun

not

  1. (music) note, a character, variously formed, to indicate the length of a tone, and variously placed upon the staff to indicate its pitch.
    Synonym: titi nada

Compounds

Further reading

Luxembourgish

Adjective

not

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

Middle English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Reduction of nought (from Old English nāwiht, nōwiht).

Alternative forms

Adverb

not

  1. not (negates the accompanying verb)
    Þei ne bileveden hire not. ― They didn't believe her.
  2. not (to no degree, extent, or way)
    Þou art not weyke. ― You aren't weak.
Descendants
  • English: not
  • Geordie English: nut
  • Scots: nat (obsolete)
  • Yola: nat
References

Noun

not (uncountable)

  1. nothing, nought
  2. (rare) nobody, no person
Descendants
  • English: not
  • Scots: nat (obsolete)
References

Etymology 2

From Old English nāt, first and third person singular of nitan, equivalent to ne +‎ woot and ne +‎ witen.

Alternative forms

Contraction

not

  1. Contraction of ne woot; not to know.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

  • nót (alternative spelling of etymology 1 and 2)

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn
ei ringnot

From Old Norse nót, from Proto-Germanic *nōtō (“net; seine”).

Noun

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

  1. (chiefly fishing) a net, seine
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle Low German.

Noun

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

  1. (carpentry, mechanics) a groove (as used in a tongue and groove joint)
    Coordinate term: fjør
Derived terms

Etymology 3

From Old Norse hnot.

Noun

not f (definite singular nota, indefinite plural neter, definite plural netene)

  1. (pre-2012) alternative form of nøtt (“nut”)

References

Anagrams

Old English

Alternative forms

  • nōt

Etymology

From Latin nota.

Pronunciation

Noun

not m (nominative plural notas)

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

Declension

Declension of not (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative not notas
accusative not notas
genitive notes nota
dative note notum

Descendants

Old Swedish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

nōt f

  1. net, seine

Declension

  Declension of not (strong ō-stem)
masculine singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative nōt nōtin nōtar nōtarnar, nōtanar
accusative nōt nōtina nōtar nōtarnar, nōtanar
dative nōt, nōto nōtinni, nōtinne nōtum, nōtom nōtumin, nōtomen
genitive nōtar nōtarinnar nōta nōtanna

Descendants

Romansch

Alternative forms

Etymology

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

Noun

not f (plural nots)

  1. (Puter, Vallader) night

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

Borrowed from English note. The "money" sense comes from the now-rare £1 note.

Pronunciation

Noun

not m (genitive singular not, plural notaichean)

  1. (music) note
  2. (money) pound (sterling)

References

  1. ^ Oftedal, M. (1956) The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap

Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old French note (noun), noter (verb), both from Latin nota.

Pronunciation

Noun

not c

  1. (music) note.
  2. a short message; note.
  3. (diplomacy) a formal message from a country to another country’s embassy.
Declension
Declension of not 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative not noten noter noterna
Genitive nots notens noters noternas
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Related to nät (“net”).

Noun

not c

  1. seine
Declension
Declension of not 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative not noten notar notarna
Genitive nots notens notars notarnas

Anagrams

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English North.

Noun

not

  1. North

Turkish

Etymology

From French note.

Pronunciation

Noun

not (definite accusative notu, plural notlar)

  1. a short message; note
    Not: Seni seviyorum. ― PS: I love you.
  2. grade, score

Declension

Inflection
Nominative not
Definite accusative notu
Singular Plural
Nominative not notlar
Definite accusative notu notları
Dative nota notlara
Locative notta notlarda
Ablative nottan notlardan
Genitive notun notların

Welsh

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English knot.

Noun

not m (plural notiau, not mutable)

  1. (aviation, nautical) knot

Etymology 2

Noun

not

  1. Nasal mutation of dot.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
dot ddot not unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
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