. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
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 .
Alternatively, from Middle English ne ( “ not ” ) or none + oughte ( “ ought, should ” ) , with the latter reinforcing the former.
Pronunciation
Adverb
not (not comparable )
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 , London: Heinemann, →OCLC , page 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 .
Did you take out the trash? No, I did not .
Not knowing any better, I went ahead.
To no degree.
That is not red; it's green.
( 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 .
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.
The verb do , as a main verb, takes do not .
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
Related terms
Translations
negates meaning of verb
Acehnese: hana
Afrikaans: nie (af) , nie ... nie
Albanian: nuk (sq) , s'
Amharic: አይደለም ( ʾäydäläm )
Apache:
Western Apache: dawǫ́’
Arabic: لَا (ar) ( lā ) , ( past tense, continuous present ) مَا (ar) ( mā ) , ( only past tense, imperfective ) لَم (ar) ( lam ) , ( future tense ) لَن (ar) ( lan ) , ( verb "to not be" ) لَيْسَ ( laysa )
Egyptian Arabic: مش ( miš, muš )
Hijazi Arabic: مو ( mū ) , ما ( mā )
Moroccan Arabic: ماشي ( māši )
North Levantine Arabic: مش ( miš ) (Lebanon) , مو ( mū ) (Syria)
South Levantine Arabic: مش ( miš, muš )
Tunisian Arabic: مش ( muš )
Aramaic:
Western/Levantine Aramaic: לָא ( lā )
Armenian: չ- ( čʻ- ) + ( verb )
Aromanian: nu
Assamese: নহয় ( nohoy ) , ন- ( no- ) , না ( na )
Asturian: nun (ast)
Azerbaijani: deyil (az)
Bashkir: түгел ( tügel )
Basque: ez (eu)
Bavarian: niad , ned , net , nit , it
Belarusian: не (be) ( nje ) , ня ( nja ) (not standard in writing, despite common unstressed pronunciation)
Bengali: না (bn) ( na )
Bikol Central: bako (bcl)
Brunei Malay: endah
Bulgarian: не (bg) ( ne )
Burmese: မ ... ဘူး ( ma. ... bhu: )
Carpathian Rusyn: не ( ne )
Catalan: no (ca) , no ... pas
Cebuano: dili
Central Atlas Tamazight: (please verify ) ⵓⵔ ( ur ) + verb , (please verify ) ⵓⵔⴷ ( urd ) + noun, pronoun
Central Huishui Hmong: tsis
Chamicuro: kala
Chechen: ца ( ca )
Cherokee: Ꮭ (chr) ( tla )
Chichewa: osati
Chinese:
Cantonese: 不 (yue) ( bat1 ) , 唔 (yue) ( m4 ) ( vernacular )
Dungan: бу ( bu )
Eastern Min: 伓 ( n̂g )
Hakka: 唔 ( m̀ )
Hokkien: 無 / 无 (zh-min-nan) ( bô )
Mandarin: 不 (zh) ( bù ) , ( past tense, or with 有 ) 沒 / 没 (zh) ( méi ) , 沒有 / 没有 (zh) ( méiyǒu ) , 別 / 别 (zh) ( bié ) ( only for "don't" ) , 無 / 无 (zh) ( wú ) , 未 (zh) ( wèi ) , 非 (zh) ( fēi )
Wu: 勿
Xiang: 不 ( bu6 )
Corsican: micca
Czech: ne- (cs)
Danish: ikke (da) , ej
Dutch: niet (nl)
East Central German: nich , net , ni , nicht , ne , nit
Enga: daa
Esperanto: ne (eo)
Estonian: ei (et)
Faroese: ikki (fo) , ei
Finnish: ei (fi)
French: ne ... pas , pas (fr) , ne (fr) ( see entries for usage )
Galician: non (gl)
Georgian: არ ( ar )
German: nicht (de)
Alemannic German: net , nit , nüt , nöt
Greek: δε (el) ( de ) , δεν (el) ( den ) , μη (el) ( mi ) , μην (el) ( min )
Ancient: οὐ ( ou ) , μή ( mḗ )
Guaraní: nd- -i
Guerrero Amuzgo: chi
Gujarati: નથી ( nathī )
Haitian Creole: pa
Hausa: ba
Hawaiian: ʻaʻole
Hebrew: לא (he) ( lo )
Hindi: नहीं (hi) ( nahī̃ ) , ( don't ) न (hi) ( na ) , ( don't, more abrupt ) मत (hi) ( mat )
Hittite: 𒈾𒀜𒋫 ( natta )
Hungarian: nem (hu)
Icelandic: ekki (is) , ei (is) ( dated ) , eigi ( dated )
Ido: ne (io)
Igbo: ọ bụghị
Indonesian: tidak (id) , tak (id)
Ingush: ца ( ca )
Interlingua: non (ia)
Irish: ní , níor ( before past tenses ) , cha , chan , char ( before past tenses ) , gan (ga) ( in conjunction with a verbal noun )
Old Irish: ní , nícon
Italian: non (it) , ( colloquial ) mica (it)
Japanese: ...ではない ( de wa nai ) ( be not ) , ...ない (ja) ( nai ) , ( polite final form ) -ません ( ...masen )
Jarawa: naɖem , -ma
Javanese: ora (jv)
Kamkata-viri: nā̃i
Kannada: ಅಲ್ಲ (kn) ( alla )
Kashubian: ni
Kazakh: емес (kk) ( emes )
Khalaj: داغ , dâğ
Khmer: មិន...ទេ ( min … teː )
Khün: ᨷᩢ ( baw² )
Kilivila: gala
Korean: 안 (ko) ( an ) , ( be not ) ...아니다 (ko) ( ...anida ) , 않다 (ko) ( anta ) ( auxiliary verb, follows verb stem + 지 )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: نە ( ne ) , نا ( na )
Kyrgyz: эмес (ky) ( emes )
Ladino: נון ( non )
Lao: ບໍ່ ( bǭ )
Latin: non (la) , nil , haud (la) , hau , haut , nunquam , ne (la) , nec (la) , neque (la)
Latvian: ne- (lv)
Lithuanian: ne- (lt)
Lü: ᦢᧁᧈ ( ḃaw¹ ) , ᨷᩢ
Luxembourgish: net
Macedonian: не ( ne )
Malay: tidak (ms) , bukan , endah ( Sarawak )
Malayalam: ഇല്ല (ml) ( illa )
Maltese: mhux , lanqas
Mansaka: di
Maori: e kore , kāore
Maranao: di'
Marathi: नाही ( nāhī )
Middle English: nought , ne , not
Miskito: apia
Mon: please add this translation if you can
Mongolian: -гүй ( -güj )
Navajo: dooda
Naxi: me
Nepali: छैन ( chaina )
Ngazidja Comorian: tsi
North Frisian: ai ( Mooring ) , ei ( Föhr-Amrum ) , ek ( Sylt ) , ni ( Heligoland )
Northern Thai: ᨷᩴ᩵ ( bɔɔ² )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ikke (no) , ei (no)
Nynorsk: ikkje (nn) , ei (nn)
Occitan: non (oc) , pas (oc)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: не ( ne )
Old East Slavic: не ( ne )
Old English: ne (used before the finite verb)
Old Frisian: ne , ni
Old Norse: ekki
Old Saxon: ne , ni
Ossetian: нӕ ( næ )
Persian: نه (fa) ( na )
Polish: nie (pl)
Portuguese: não (pt)
Punjabi: ਨਾ ( nā )
Quechua: ama (qu)
Rapa Nui: kai , hoki ( used in a question when expecting an affirmative answer )
Romani: na , ći , ni
Romanian: nu (ro)
Russian: не (ru) ( ne )
Salar: emes
Samoan: lē
Sanskrit: न (sa) ( na )
Scottish Gaelic: chan eil , chan , cha
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: не
Roman: ne (sh)
Shan: ဢမ်ႇ (shn) ( ʼàm )
Sicilian: nun (scn) , non (scn) , 'un , unn , nn'
Slovak: ne- (sk)
Slovene: nè (sl)
Somali: ma
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: nje-
Southern Thai: please add this translation if you can
Spanish: no (es)
Sundanese: enteu , sanés , teu
Swabian: it , et , net
Swahili: use negative conjugated forms of the verb
Swedish: inte (sv) , ej (sv) , icke (sv)
Tagalog: hindi (tl)
Tai Dam: ꪹꪚ꪿ꪱ ( báu )
Tajik: не (tg) ( ne )
Tamil: இல்லை (ta) ( illai )
Tatar: түгел ( tügel )
Tausug: di
Telugu: కాదు (te) ( kādu )
Tetum: la
Thai: ไม่ (th) ( mâi ) , ไม่ใช่ ( mâi-châi )
Tibetan: མིན ( min ) , མེད ( med )
Turkish: değil (tr) , -ma , -me (tr)
Turkmen: däl
Tz'utujil: ma
Ukrainian: не (uk) ( ne )
Urdu: نہیں ( nahī̃ ) , ( don't ) نہ ( na ) , ( don't, more abrupt ) مت ( mat )
Uyghur: ئەمەس ( emes )
Uzbek: emas (uz)
Vietnamese: không (vi) , ( for emphasis ) chẳng (vi) , chả (vi)
Waigali: ne
Welsh: dim (cy)
West Frisian: net
White Hmong: tsis
Yagnobi: на ( na )
Yiddish: ניט ( nit ) , נישט ( nisht )
Yucatec Maya: ma'
Zealandic: nie
Zhuang: mbouj
ǃXóõ: ( not be ) ǁʻàa
Conjunction
not
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!
( slang ) 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 !
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 (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
See also
Noun
not (plural nots )
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
“not ”, in OneLook Dictionary Search .
Anagrams
Albanian
Etymology
From notoj .
Noun
not m
swim
Related terms
Ambonese Malay
Etymology
Probably borrowed from Dutch uitnodiging .
Verb
not
to invite
Noun
not
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 , Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa
Aromanian
Etymology 1
From Greek νότος ( nótos ) .
Alternative forms
Noun
not m
dry wind from the south
Synonyms
See also
Etymology 2
Verb
not first-singular present indicative
Alternative form of anot to swim
Etymology 3
From anot ( “ to swim ” ) . Compare Italian nuoto , Portuguese nado .
Noun
not m
swim , swimming
Synonyms
Danish
Etymology 1
From German Nut .
Noun
not c (singular definite noten , plural indefinite noter )
( mechanics ) A groove .
Inflection
Etymology 2
From Norwegian not .
Noun
not c or n (singular definite noten or notet , plural indefinite noter or not )
( fishing ) seine net
Synonym: snurpenot
Inflection
Derived terms
Etymology 3
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
not
imperative of note
German
Pronunciation
Adverb
not
Only used in nottun
Icelandic
Pronunciation
Noun
not n pl (plurale tantum )
use
Declension
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Indonesian
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
( 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
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
not (negates the accompanying verb )
Þei ne bileveden hire not . ― They didn't believe her.
not (to no degree, extent, or way )
Þou art not weyke. ― You aren't weak.
c. 1395 , John Wycliffe , John Purvey [et al. ], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version) , MS Lich 10.) , published c. 1410 , Joon ·i· 5:3 , page 115v , column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament , Lichfield : Bill Endres, 2010 :foꝛ þis is þe charite of god .· þat we kepe hiſe comaundementis / ⁊ his maundementis ben not heuy. Now this is the love of God: us keeping his commandments. And his commandments aren't onerous.
Descendants
English: not
Geordie English: nut
Scots: nat ( obsolete )
Yola: nat
References
Noun
not (uncountable )
nothing , nought
( 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
Contraction of ne woot ; not to know .
1387–1400 , Geoffrey Chaucer , “(please specify the story) ”, in The Canterbury Tales , ,
→OCLC ; republished in [
William Thynne ], editor,
The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, ,
:
[
Richard Grafton for]
Iohn Reynes ,
1542 ,
→OCLC :
Related terms
Norwegian Nynorsk
Alternative forms
nót ( alternative spelling of etymology 1 and 2 )
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
ei ringnot
From Old Norse nót , from Proto-Germanic *nōtō ( “ net; seine ” ) .
Noun
not f (definite singular nota , indefinite plural nøter , definite plural nøtene )
( 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 )
( 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 )
( pre-2012 ) alternative form of nøtt ( “ nut ” )
References
“not” in The Nynorsk Dictionary .
Anagrams
Old English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin nota .
Pronunciation
Noun
not m (nominative plural notas )
a sign ; mark ; a mark made on an object
Declension
Declension of not (strong a-stem)
Descendants
Old Swedish
Etymology
From Old Norse nót , from Proto-Germanic *nōtō .
Pronunciation
Noun
nōt f
net , seine
Declension
Declension of not (strong ō -stem)
Descendants
Romansch
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin noctem , accusative of nox , from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts .
Noun
not f (plural nots )
( Puter , Vallader ) night
Scottish Gaelic
Pronunciation
Noun
not m (genitive singular not , plural notaichean )
Alternative form of nota
Swedish
Etymology 1
From Old French note (noun), noter (verb), both from Latin nota .
Pronunciation
Noun
not c
( music ) note .
a short message; note .
( diplomacy ) a formal message from a country to another country’s embassy.
Declension
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 2
Related to nät ( “ net ” ) .
Noun
not c
seine
Declension
Anagrams
Tok Pisin
Etymology
From English North .
Noun
not
North
Turkish
Etymology
From French note .
Pronunciation
Noun
not (definite accusative notu , plural notlar )
a short message; note
Not : Seni seviyorum. ― PS : I love you.
grade , score
Declension
Welsh
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Borrowed from English knot .
Noun
not m (plural notiau , not mutable )
( aviation , nautical ) knot
Etymology 2
Noun
not
Nasal mutation of dot .
Mutation