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not

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

Contents

EnglishEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

EtymologyEdit

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.

PronunciationEdit

AdverbEdit

not (not comparable)

  1. Negates the meaning of the modified verb.
    • 1973, Richard Nixon.
      Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.
    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 orange.

Usage notesEdit

In modern usage, do-support requires that the form do not ... (or don’t ...) is preferred to ... not for all but a short list of verbs (is/am/are/was/were, have/has/had, can/could, shall/should, will/would, may/might, 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 termsEdit

Related termsEdit

negates meaning of verb

TranslationsEdit

ConjunctionEdit

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 notesEdit

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

TranslationsEdit

InterjectionEdit

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!

SynonymsEdit

TranslationsEdit

Translations

See alsoEdit

NounEdit

not (plural nots)

  1. Unary logical function NOT, true if input is false, or a gate implementing that negation function.
    You need a not there to conform with the negative logic of the memory chip.

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

ContractionEdit

not

  1. (obsolete) Contraction of ne wot, wot not; know not; knows not.
    • Geoffrey Chaucer's The Knight's Tale.
      I noot which was the fairer of hem two

See alsoEdit

See alsoEdit

AnagramsEdit

AlbanianEdit

EtymologyEdit

From notoj.

NounEdit

not m

  1. a swim

Related termsEdit

AromanianEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Greek νότος (nótos).

Alternative formsEdit

NounEdit

not m

  1. dry wind from the south

SynonymsEdit

See alsoEdit

Etymology 2Edit

VerbEdit

not

  1. Alternative form of anot to swim

Etymology 3Edit

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

NounEdit

not m

  1. swim, swimming

SynonymsEdit

DanishEdit

 
Danish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia da

Etymology 1Edit

From German Nut.

NounEdit

not c (singular definite noten, plural indefinite noter)

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

Etymology 2Edit

 
Danish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia da

From Norwegian not.

NounEdit

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

  1. (fishing) seine net
    Synonym: snurpenot
InflectionEdit
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 termsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

See the etymology of the main entry.

VerbEdit

not

  1. imperative of note

IcelandicEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

not n pl (plurale tantum)

  1. use

DeclensionEdit

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

SynonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

LuxembourgishEdit

AdjectiveEdit

not

  1. inflected form of no

Old EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Latin nota.

NounEdit

not m (nominative plural notas)

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

DeclensionEdit

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

DescendantsEdit

Old SwedishEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

  This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

NounEdit

nōt f

  1. net, seine

DeclensionEdit

Declension of nōt (ō-stem)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative nōt nōtin nōta(r) nōtana(r)
accusative nōt nōtina, -ena nōta(r) nōtana(r)
dative nōt nōtinni, -inne nōtum, -om nōtumin, -omen
genitive nōta(r) nōtinnar nōta nōtanna

DescendantsEdit

RomanschEdit

Alternative formsEdit

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

EtymologyEdit

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

NounEdit

not f (plural nots)

  1. (Puter, Vallader) night

Scottish GaelicEdit

NounEdit

not m (genitive singular not, plural notaichean)

  1. Alternative form of nota.

SwedishEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

not c

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

DeclensionEdit

Declension of not 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative not noten noter noterna
Genitive nots notens noters noternas

Tok PisinEdit

EtymologyEdit

From English North.

NounEdit

not

  1. North

TurkishEdit

NounEdit

not (definite accusative notu, plural notlar)

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

DeclensionEdit

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
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