not

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

Also spelled nart and noan

US /nɑt/ UK /nɒt/ See IPA manual

Homophones

knot /nɑt/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like note /ɑ/ vs /oʊ/ Sounds like nut /ʌ/ vs /ɑ/

Freq #25

Meanings

1

adv
Used to make a word or sentence negative.

They do not speak French.
2

adv
Not at all; in no way.

That is not red; it's green.
3

conj
And not; used to contrast with something true.

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

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms n'tnt

Derived forms astronotinjucunditynot-deernot-for-profitnot-selfnot-so-hotnotnessnotpologynotspotnotwheatwhatnotwherenot

Related forms and else false if no or then true

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

not bad
an informal expression of strong approval, often using understatement

Adverb + adjective
not guilty
legally cleared of a particular criminal charge

Adverb + adjective

Idioms (11)

See all

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.

not Middle English *nōht Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# not

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adv, conj
**IPA (US):** /nɑt/
**IPA (UK):** /nɒt/
**Frequency rank:** 25

## Meanings
1. Used to make a word or sentence negative.
2. Not at all; in no way.
3. And not; used to contrast with something true.

## Examples
- They do not speak French.
- That is not red; it's green.
- I wanted a plate of shrimp, not a bucket of chicken.

## Derived Forms
- astronot
- injucundity
- not-deer
- not-for-profit
- not-self
- not-so-hot
- notness
- notpology
- notspot
- notwheat
- whatnot
- wherenot

## Related Forms
- and
- else
- false
- if
- no
- or
- then
- true

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: not
- Root: *nōht

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Not comes 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. The historical chain includes Middle English not and Old English *nōht. Modern senses include used to make a word or sentence negative and not at all; in no way. The wider word family includes derivatives such as astronot, injucundity, not-deer, not-for-profit, not-self, and not-so-hot and related forms such as and, else, false, and if.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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