cannot
English
Alternative forms
- cannet, cannit (Tyneside)
Etymology
can + not
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkænɒt/, /kæˈnɒt/
Audio (UK) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ˈkæ(n.)nɑt/, /ˈkɛ(n.)nɑt/, /kə(n)ˈnɑt/, /kɪ(n)ˈnɑt/
Audio (US) (file) - (Canada) IPA(key): /kəˈnɑt/
- Hyphenation: can‧not
- Rhymes: -ɒt
Verb
cannot
- Can not (be unable to).
- I cannot open the window. It is stuck.
- Be forbidden or not permitted to
- 1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575
- The Pupil after his Pupillarity, had granted a Diſcharge to one of the Co-tutors, which did extinguiſh the whole Debt of that Co-tutor, and conſequently of all the reſt, they being all correi debendi, lyable by one individual Obligation, which cannot be Diſcharged as to one, and ſtand as to all the reſt.
- 2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US rules human genes can't be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 10:
- The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.
- You cannot enter the hall without a ticket.
- 1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575
Usage notes
Both the one-word form cannot and the two-word form can not are acceptable, but cannot is more common (in the Oxford English Corpus, three times as common). Authors more commonly opt for the two-word form in constructions where not is part of a set phrase, such as 'not only... but (also)': Paul can not only sing well, but also paint brilliantly.
Synonyms
- can't
Translations
cannot — See also translations at can, not
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Noun
cannot (plural cannots)
- Something that cannot be done.
- the cans and cannots
- A person who cannot do (something).
Anagrams
- Canton, Conant, Nacton, canton, nonact, noncat
Norman
Etymology
Related to French cane (“(female) duck”) and canard (“duck; drake”); see there for more. Cognate with French canot (“little boat”).
Noun
cannot m (plural cannots)
- (Jersey) duckling
Derived terms
- cannoter (“to walk like a duck”)