Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Not

[Contr. from

ne wot

. See 2d

Note

Wot not; know not; knows not.

[Obs.]

Chaucer.

Not

Adj.

Shorn; shaven.

[Obs.]

See

Nott

Not

adv.

[OE.

not

noht

nought

naught

, the same word as E.

naught

. See

Naught

A word used to express negation, prohibition, denial, or refusal.

Not

one word spake he more than was need.

Chaucer.

Thou shalt

not

steal.

Ex. xx. 15.

Thine eyes are upon me, and I am

not

Job vii. 8.

The question is, may I do it, or may I

not

do it?

Bp. Sanderson.

Not . . . but

, or

Not but

only.

[Obs. or Colloq.]

Chaucer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Not

NOT

adv.

[See Naught.]

A word that expreses negation, denial or refusal; as, he will no go; will you remain? I will not. In the first member of a sentence, it may be followed by nor or neither; as not for a price nor reward; I was not in sfety, neither had I rest.

With the substantive verb in the following phrase, it denies being, or denotes extinction of existence.

Thine eyes are open upon me, and I am not. Job 7.

Definition 2024

Not

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

German

Alternative forms

Noth (obsolete)

Noun

Not f ‎(genitive Not, plural Nöte)

need, imminence
Kinder in Not‎ ― Children in Need (name of a charitable organisation)
necessity, poverty
emergency, crisis

Declension

Declension of Not

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Not	die	Nöte
genitive	einer	der	Not	der	Nöte
dative	einer	der	Not	den	Nöten
accusative	eine	die	Not	die	Nöte

Derived terms

Terms derived from Not

Notrufnummer
Notstand
Notverordnung
notwendig

Related terms

notig
nötig

not

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

English

Adverb

not ‎(not comparable)

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.
To no degree
That is not red; it's orange.

Usage notes

In modern usage, 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, need):

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 in the US.

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

The verb dare can sometimes be directly negated.

I daren't do that.

Related terms

negates meaning of verb

Translations

negates meaning of verb

Acehnese: hana
Afrikaans: nie
Albanian: nuk (sq)
Amharic: አይደለም ‎(āyidelemi)
Amuzgo: chi
Arabic: لَا (ar) ‎(lā), (past tense, continuous present) مَا (ar) ‎(mā), (only past tense, imperfective) لَم ‎(lam), (future tense) لَن ‎(lan), (verb - "to be not") لَيْسَ ‎(laysa)
Egyptian: مش ‎(miš) or (muš)
Armenian: չ- ‎(čʿ-) + (verb)
Asturian: nun (ast)
Azeri: deyil (az)
Bashkir: түгел ‎(tügel)
Basque: ez (eu)
Belarusian: не (be) ‎(nje), ня ‎(nja) (not standard in writing, despite common unstressed pronunciation)
Bengali: না ‎(Nā)
Bulgarian: не (bg) ‎(ne)
Burmese: မ ... ဘူး ‎(ma. ... bhu:)
Catalan: no (ca)
Cebuano: dili
Central Atlas Tamazight: ^{(please verify)}ⵓⵔ ‎(ur) + verb, ^{(please verify)}ⵓⵔⴷ ‎(urd) + noun, ^{(please verify)}pronoun ‎(pronoun)
Central Huishui Hmong: tsis
Chamicuro: kala
Chichewa: osati
Chinese:

Cantonese: 不 ‎(bat¹), 唔 ‎(m⁴) (vernacular)

Mandarin: 不 (zh) ‎(bù), (past tense, or with 有) 沒 (zh), 没 (zh) ‎(méi), 沒有 (zh), 没有 (zh) ‎(méiyǒu)
Corsican: micca
Czech: ne- (cs)
Danish: ikke (da), ej
Dutch: niet (nl)
Esperanto: ne (eo)
Estonian: ei (et)
Faroese: ikki, ei
Finnish: ei (fi)
French: ne ... pas, pas (fr), ne (fr) (see entries for usage)
Galician: non (gl)
Georgian: არ ‎(ar)
German: nicht (de)
Greek: δε (el) ‎(de), δεν (el) ‎(den), μη (el) ‎(mi), μην (el) ‎(min)
Ancient: οὐ ‎(ou), μή ‎(mḗ)
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: bukan (id), tidak (id), tak (id)
Interlingua: non
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)
Japanese: ...ではない ‎(de wa nai) (be not), ...ない (ja) ‎(nai), (polite final form) -ません ‎(...masen)
Javanese: ora (jv)
Kannada: ಅಲ್ಲ (kn) ‎(alla)
Kazakh: емес (kk) ‎(emes)
Khmer: មិន...ទេ ‎(min … teː)
Kilivila: gala
Korean: 안 (ko) ‎(an), (be not) ...아니다 (ko) ‎(...anida), 않다 (ko) ‎(anta) (auxiliary verb, follows verb stem + 지)

Kurdish:
Sorani: نه‌ (ku), نا (ku)
Lao: ບໍ່ ‎(bǭ)
Latin: non (la), nil, haud (la), hau, haut, nunquam, ne (la), nec (la), neque (la)
Latvian: ne- (lv)
Lithuanian: ne- (lt)
Lojban: na (jbo)
Lü: ᦢᧁᧈ ‎(ḃav¹), ᨷᩢ
Macedonian: не ‎(ne)
Malay: tidak, bukan
Maltese: mhux, lanqas
Maori: e kore
Miskito: apia
Mon:
Mongolian: -гүй ‎(-güj)
Navajo: dooda
Nepali: छैन ‎(chaina)
Ngazidja Comorian: tsi
Northern Thai:
Norwegian:

Bokmål: ikke (no), ei (no)

Nynorsk: ikkje (nn), ei (nn)
Novial: non
Occitan: non
Old English: ne
Old Frisian: ne, ni
Old Saxon: ne, ni
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)
Romanian: nu (ro)
Russian: не (ru) ‎(ne)
Samoan: lē
Sanskrit: न (sa) ‎(na)
Scottish Gaelic: chan eil, chan, cha
Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic: не

Roman: ne (sh)
Shan:
Slovak: ne-
Slovene: nè (sl)
Somali: ma
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: nje-
Spanish: no (es)
Sundanese: enteu, sanés, teu
Swahili: use negative conjugated forms of the verb, si
Swedish: inte (sv), ej (sv), icke (sv)
Tagalog: hindi (tl)
Tajik: не (tg) ‎(ne)
Tamil: இல்லை (ta) ‎(illai)
Telugu: కాదు (te) ‎(kādu)
Thai: ไม่ (th) ‎(mâi), ไม่ใช่ ‎(mâi châi)
Turkish: değil (tr), -ma, -me
Tz'utujil: ma
Ukrainian: не (uk) ‎(ne)
Urdu: نہیں ‎(nahī̃), (don't) نہ ‎(na), (don't, more abrupt) مت ‎(mat)
Vietnamese: không (vi), (for emphasis) chẳng (vi)
Welsh: dim (cy)
West Frisian: net
White Hmong: tsis
Yiddish: ניט ‎(nit), נישט ‎(nisht)
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

And not

Arabic: (verb) لَيْسَ ‎(laysa)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 不是 (zh) ‎(bú shì)
Czech: ne (cs), nikoliv (cs)
Dutch: geen (nl), niet (nl)
Estonian: mitte (et)
Finnish: ei (fi)
French: ^{(please verify)}ne...pas , ^{(please verify)}non (fr)
Georgian: და არა ‎(da ara)
German: nicht (de)
Greek: όχι (el) ‎(óchi)
Hebrew: ו לא ‎(v'ló)
Hungarian: ^{(please verify)}nem pedig
Icelandic: ekki (is), ei (is) (dated), eigi (dated)
Indonesian: bukan (id)
Italian: mica (it)

Japanese: (...) ではなく ‎(dewa naku)
Kurdish:
Sorani: نه‌ک (ku)
Malay: bukan
Norwegian:

Bokmål: ikke (no)

Nynorsk: ikkje (nn)
Persian: نه (fa) ‎(na)
Polish: nie (pl)
Portuguese: não (pt)
Russian: а не ‎(a ne), не (ru) ‎(ne)
Spanish: no (es)
Sundanese: sanés
Swedish: inte (sv), icke (sv), ej (sv)
Turkish: değil (tr)

Interjection

not!

(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

I don't think

Translations

Chinese:
Mandarin: 才怪 (zh), 才怪 (zh) ‎(cáiguài)
Danish: ikke (da)
Faroese: ikki
Icelandic: ekki (is)
Japanese: じゃない ‎(ja nai)
Malay: tidak, tak

Norwegian:

Norwegian Bokmål: ikke (no)

Norwegian Nynorsk: ikkje (nn)
Old Norse: ekki
Portuguese: só que não
Swedish: inte (sv), icke (sv), ej (sv)

Noun

not ‎(plural nots)

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 terms

Translations

unary negation function

Finnish: EI

Malay: tak
Swedish: icke (sv)

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: as · had · you · #18: not · be · at · by

Anagrams

Ont, Ont., TNO, ton

Albanian

Etymology

From notoj.

Noun

not m

a swim

Related terms

notoj or bën not to swim

Aromanian

Etymology 1

From Greek νότος ‎(nótos).

Alternative forms

Noun

not m

dry wind from the south

Synonyms

Verb

not

Alternative form of anot to swim

Etymology 3

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

Noun

not m

swim, swimming

Synonyms

notalui

Danish

Etymology 1

From German Nut.

Noun

not c (singular definite noten, plural indefinite noter)

(mechanics) A groove.

Inflection

Inflection of not

common gender	Singular		Plural
common gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	not	noten	noter	noterne
genitive	nots	notens	noters	noternes

Etymology 2

From Norwegian not.

Noun

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

(fishing) A seine net.

Inflection

Inflection of not

common gender	Singular		Plural
common gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	not	noten notet	noter not	noterne notene
genitive	nots	notens notets	noters nots	noternes notenes

Synonyms

snurpenot

Derived terms

snurpenot

Etymology 3

See note.

Verb

not

imperative of note

Icelandic

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -ɔːt

Noun

not n pl ‎(plurale tantum)

Declension

declension of not

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

Derived terms

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

Lojban

Rafsi

not

rafsi of notci.

Luxembourgish

Adjective

not

inflected form of no

Old English

Alternative forms

nōt

Etymology

From Latin nota.

Noun

not m ‎(nominative plural notas)

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

Middle English: note, noote
- Scots: note
- English: note

Old Swedish

Etymology

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

Noun

nōt f

net, seine

Declension

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

Descendants

Swedish: not

Romansch

Alternative forms

(Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran) notg

Etymology

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

Noun

not f (plural nots)

(Puter, Vallader) night

Scottish Gaelic

Noun

not m ‎(genitive singular not, plural notaichean)

Alternative form of nota.

Swedish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnuːt/

Noun

not c

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

Declension

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

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English North.

Noun

not

North

Turkish

Noun

not ‎(definite accusative notu, plural notlar)

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

Declension

declension of not

	singular (tekil)	plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın)	not	notlar
definite accusative (belirtme)	notu	notları
dative (yönelme)	nota	notlara
locative (bulunma)	notta	notlarda
ablative (ayrılma)	nottan	notlardan
genitive (tamlayan)	notun	notların