different between not vs aught

English

Etymology

From Middle English not, nat, variant of noght, naht (“not, nothing”), from Old English *n?ht, n?ht (“nought, nothing”), short for n?wiht, n?wiht (“nothing”, literally “not anything”), corresponding to ne (“not”) + ?wiht, ?wiht (“anything”), corresponding to ? (“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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation)
  • IPA^(key): /n?t/
• (General American)
  • IPA^(key): /n?t/
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): [n??t]
• Rhymes: -?t
• Homophone: knot
• Homophone: naught, nought (cot–caught merger)

Adverb

not (not comparable)

1. Negates the meaning of the modified verb.

   ‘Do they know?’ ‘I believe not’ (formal)

   • 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, p. 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.

   Not knowing any better, I went ahead.

2. To no degree.

3. (understatement, 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, 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.)

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

• not to put too fine a point on it

Related terms

Translations

Conjunction

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 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!

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!

Synonyms

• bender, I don't think

Translations

See also

• Appendix:American Dialect Society words of the year

Noun

not (plural nots)

1. 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

Contraction

not

1. (obsolete) Contraction of ne wot; not to know.

   • I noot which was the fairer of hem two

See also

References

• not at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• -ton, NTO, ONT, Ont, Ont., TNO, TON, on't, ton

Albanian

Etymology

From notoj.

Noun

not m

1. swim

Related terms

• notoj (“to swim”), bën not (“to swim”)

Aromanian

Etymology 1

From Greek ????? (nótos).

Alternative forms

• Not

Noun

not m

1. dry wind from the south

Synonyms

• iug

See also

• vimtu
• sud/Sud
• livã
• austru

Etymology 2

Verb

not

1. Alternative form of anot to swim

Etymology 3

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

Noun

not m

1. swim, swimming

Synonyms

• notalui

Danish

Etymology 1

From German Nut.

Noun

not c (singular definite noten, plural indefinite noter)

1. (mechanics) A groove.

Inflection

Etymology 2

From Norwegian not.

Noun

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

1. (fishing) seine net

   Synonym: snurpenot

Inflection

Derived terms

• snurpenot

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

not

1. imperative of note

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n??t/
• Rhymes: -??t

Noun

not n pl (plurale tantum)

1. use

Declension

Synonyms

• (use): gagn, notkun

Derived terms

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

Related terms

• nota (“to use”)

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch noot, from Middle Dutch note, from Old French note, from Latin nota. Doublet of nota.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?t/
• Hyphenation: not

Noun

not

1. (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

• “not” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Luxembourgish

Adjective

not

1. strong/weak nominative/accusative neuter singular of no

Middle English

Alternative forms

• nat, note, notte, nate, nut

Etymology

Reduction of nought (from Old English n?wiht, n?wiht).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n?t/, /nat/

Adverb

not

1. not (negates the accompanying verb)

2. not (to no degree, extent, or way)

Descendants

• English: not
• Scots: nat (obsolete)
• Yola: nat

References

• “not, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Noun

not (uncountable)

1. nothing, nought
2. (rare) nobody, no person

Descendants

• English: not
• Scots: nat (obsolete)

References

• “not, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?nu?t/ (example of pronunciation)

Etymology 1

From Old Norse nót.

Noun

not f (definite singular nota, indefinite plural nøter, definite plural nøtene)

1. Alternative spelling of nót

Etymology 2

From Middle Low German.

Noun

not f (definite singular nota, indefinite plural noter, definite plural notene)

1. alternative spelling of nót

Etymology 3

From Old Norse hnot.

Noun

not f (definite singular nota, indefinite plural neter, definite plural netene)

1. alternative spelling of nòt (non-standard since 2012)

References

• “not” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• ton

Old English

Alternative forms

• n?t

Etymology

From Latin nota.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /not/

Noun

not m (nominative plural notas)

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

Declension

Descendants

• Middle English: note, noote
  • Scots: note
  • English: note

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse nót, from Proto-Germanic *n?t?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /no?t/

Noun

n?t f

1. net, seine

Declension

Descendants

• Swedish: not

Romansch

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

From Latin noctem, accusative of nox, from Proto-Indo-European *nók?ts.

Noun

not f (plural nots)

1. (Puter, Vallader) night

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n???ht?/

Noun

not m (genitive singular not, plural notaichean)

1. Alternative form of nota

Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old French note (noun), noter (verb), both from Latin nota.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?nu?t/

Noun

not c

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

Declension

Etymology 2

Noun

not c

1. seine

Declension

Anagrams

• ont, ton

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English North.

Noun

not

1. North

Turkish

Etymology

From French note.

Noun

not (definite accusative notu, plural notlar)

1. a short message; note

Declension

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ôt, IPA^(key): /??t/
• Rhymes: -??t
• (US) enPR: ôt, IPA^(key): /?t/
• (cot–caught merger) enPR: ät, IPA^(key): /?t/

Etymology 1

From Middle English aught, ought, from Old English ?ht, from ? (“always", "ever”) + wiht (“thing", "creature”). More at aye, wight.

Alternative forms

• owt

Pronoun

aught

1. anything whatsoever, any part.
   • 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene ii^[1]:

     [...] wouldst thou aught with me?

   • But go, my son, and see if aught be wanting.

   • 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London, Oxford University Press, 1973. § 29.

     […] to other objects, which for aught we know, may be only in appearance similar.

   • 1886-88, Richard F. Burton, The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night:

     But as soon as her son espied her, bowl in hand, he thought that haply something untoward had befallen her, but he would not ask of aught until such time as she had set down the bowl, when she acquainted him with that which had occurred […]

   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, chapter 5

     His life among these fierce apes had been happy; for his recollection held no other life, nor did he know that there existed within the universe aught else than his little forest and the wild jungle animals with which he was familiar.

   • 1977: J. R. R. Tolkien, Silmarillion, Ainulindalë

     There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made.

Adverb

aught (not comparable)

1. (archaic) At all, in any degree, in any respect.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, act 5 scene 1

     [...] and if your love

     Can labour aught in sad invention,

     Hang her an epitaph upon her tomb,

     And sing it to her bones [...]

References

• aught in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Etymology 2

Meaning of "zero" by confusion with naught. Used amongst those who were once called "non-U" speakers of English.

Noun

aught (plural aughts)

1. whit, the smallest part, iota.
2. (archaic) zero
3. The digit zero as the decade in years. For example, aught-nine for 1909 or 2009.

Usage notes

The use of aught and ought to mean "zero" is very much proscribed as the word aught originally meant the opposite of naught: "anything". This may be due to misanalysis, or may simply be the result of speakers confusing the meanings of aught and naught due to similar-sounding phonemes.

Translations

See also

• naught
• owt

Etymology 3

From Middle English aught (“estimation, regard, reputation”), from Old English æht (“estimation, consideration”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahtu. Cognate with Dutch acht (“attention, regard, heed”), German Acht (“attention, regard”). Also see ettle.

Noun

aught (uncountable)

1. (regional) Estimation.

2. (regional) Of importance or consequence (in the phrase "of aught").

3. (regional, rare, obsolete) Esteem, respect.

Usage notes

In the first sense, generally found in the phrase "in one's aught" as in? "In my aught, this play ain't worth the candle". In the second sense, generally found in the phrase "of aught" as in? "nothing of aught has happened since you've been away, Sir". In the third sense, generally found in the phrase "a man of aught", or rarely in the more archaic phrase "to show somebody or something (some) aught" as in? "show your mother some aught, son".

References

• www.duden.de - Acht
• The Middle English Dictionary
• The Dictionary of the Scots Language
• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Etymology 4

From Middle English aught, ought, from Old English ?ht, from Proto-Germanic *aihtiz (“possessions, property”).

Alternative forms

• ought

Noun

aught (plural aughts)

1. Property; possession
2. Duty; place; office

Verb

aught (third-person singular simple present aughts, present participle aughting, simple past and past participle aughted)

1. to own, possess
2. to owe, be obliged or obligated to

Adjective

aught (comparative more aught, superlative most aught)

1. possessed of

Etymology 5

From Middle English ahte, from Old English eahta (“eight”). More at eight.

Numeral

aught

1. Obsolete or dialectal form of eight.

Anagrams

• ghaut

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English ought.

Pronoun

aught

1. any, anything

References

• Jacob Poole (1867) , William Barnes, editor, A glossary, with some pieces of verse, of the old dialect of the English colony in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, J. Russell Smith, ?ISBN