won't
See also: wont and wo'n't
English
Alternative forms
- wo'n't (archaic)
- wonnot (obsolete)
Etymology
From earlier wonnot, from Middle English wynnot, wilnot, wolnot, wilnat, a contraction of Middle English will not, wil not, wyll not, will noght, wil noht, willi noȝt, wyl nat, wol not, woll not, wole not, wolle not, wol nat, woll nat, etc., equivalent to a will + not and/or woll + not.[1] For the pronunciation with /oʊ/, /əʊ/, see poultry.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /wəʊnt/
- (General American) enPR: wōnt, IPA(key): /woʊnt/, [wõt(ˀ)], [wõʔ]
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Homophone: wont (one pronunciation)
- Rhymes: -əʊnt
Verb
won't
- will not (negative auxiliary[2]); used to indicate a future non-occurring action.
- Sam won't be doing any work this afternoon.
Synonyms
- (will not): (archaic) willn't, wo'n't, wonnot
Translations
contraction of “will not”
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See also
- Appendix:English modal verbs
- Appendix:English tag questions
References
- http://www.dictionary.com/browse/won-t
- Arnold M. Zwicky and Geoffrey K. Pullum, Cliticization vs. Inflection: English n’t, Language 59 (3), 1983, pp. 502-513
Anagrams
- Town, nowt, town