Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “not” come from?

Not derives from Middle English nat, Old English notu and nyht, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European nókʷts and the negative particle ne.

not (English): Negates the meaning of the modified verb; To no...

Definitions

  1. Negates the meaning of the modified verb; To no...

Ancestry of “not”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishnatAlternative form of not
2Middle EnglishnoghtAlternative form of nought
3Old Englishnāhtnought, nothing
4Old Englishnōwiht—
5Old Englishnenot; or, and not; "ne... ne..." is used to mean "...
6Old Englisheallescompletely, wholly, entirely; totally,...
7Old English-espossessive marker, indicating that an object...
8Proto-Germanic-as—
9Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
10Proto-Indo-European-ess—
11Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “not”

  • don't
  • oughtn't
  • sha'n't
  • mayn't
  • daren't
  • can't
  • didn't
  • cannot
  • whatnot
  • couldn't
  • wouldn't
  • doesn't
  • wasn't
  • bean't
  • aren't
  • hadn't
  • haven't
  • shouldn't
  • beant
  • dursn't
  • weren't
  • wouldn't've
  • durstn't
  • hasn't
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →