different between nott vs nost

English

Alternative forms

• not

Etymology

From Old English hnot, of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /n?t/

Adjective

nott (comparative more nott, superlative most nott)

1. (obsolete) Bald.
2. (now Britain dialect, Newfoundland) Of an animal: having no horns; polled.
   • 1850, "On the Farming of Somerset", Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. XI, p. 679:

     For these and other reasons farmers who occupy good land in the vale with their hill farms are getting tired of the horned sheep, and use their hill farms only as summering-ground for nott sheep and bullocks.

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles:

     Do ye know that riddle about the nott cows, Jonathan? Why do nott cows give less milk in a year than horned?

Verb

nott (third-person singular simple present notts, present participle notting, simple past and past participle notted)

1. (obsolete) To shear.
   • 1575, John Stow, Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles

     he caused his owne head to bee poiled, and from thencefoorthe his bearde to bee notted, and no more shaven.

Latvian

Adverb

nost

1. away

   Rokas nost!

   Hands off!

Middle English

Etymology

From Old English n?st, second person singular indicative of Old English nytan (“to not know”).

Contraction

nost

1. Contraction of ne wost; wost not; knowest not.

   þu nost wanne crist ure drikte

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Chaucer to this entry?)

References

• “witen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.