Dictionary

doesn't en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈdʊ(nə)nt/ (dialectal)
• (US) audio
• /ˈdʌz.ənt/ (UK)
• /ˈdʌz.ənt/ (US)
• /ˈdʌd(ə)nt/ (dialectal)
• [ˈdʌz.n̩t] (UK)
• /ˈdʌn(t)/ (UK, colloquial)
• /ˈdʌd.ənt/ (US)
• [ˈdʌz.n̩t] (US)

Etymology

Etymology tree English does Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Germanic *ne Proto-West Germanic *ne Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- Proto-Indo-European *-u Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu Proto-Indo-European *-osinflu. Proto-Germanic *aiwaz Proto-West Germanic *aiw univ. Proto-West Germanic *naiw Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *wékʷtisder.? Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *wéǵʰtisder.? Proto-Germanic *wihtą Proto-West Germanic *wiht Proto-West Germanic *naiwwiht Old English nāwiht Old English *nōht Middle English nought Middle English not English notder. English -n't English doesn't From does + -n't.

Meanings

1. Does not (negative auxiliary)
   • The Furr'd Law-cats are most terrible and dreadful Monsters, they devour little Children, and trample over Marble-Stones. Pray tell me, Noble Topers, do they not deserve to have their Snouts slit ? The Hair of their Hides do's n't lie outward, but inwards; and every Mother's Son of 'em, for his Devise, wears a gaping Pouch, but not all in the same manner; for some wear it ty'd to their Neck Scarfwise, others upon the Breech, some on the Paunch, others on the Side, and all for a Cause, with Reason and Mystery: They have Claws so very strong, long, and sharp, that nothing can get from 'em, that is once fast between their Clutches: Sometimes they cover their Heads with Mortar-like Caps, at other times with mortify'd Caparisons. 1693, François Rabelais, translated by Peter Anthony Motteux, The Works of Mr. Francis Rabelais..., volume 2, London: Navarre Society Limited, translation of original in French, page 321:
   • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Riseshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/ Though Bane’s sing-song voice gives his pronouncements a funny lilt, he doesn’t have any of the Joker’s deranged wit, and Nolan isn’t interested in undercutting his seriousness for the sake of a breezier entertainment.
   • Santorum, in a comment regarding Senator John McCain's repudiation of torture, stated, "He doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they've broken they become cooperative" (Summers 2011). 2015 November 30, Shane O'Mara, Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 12:
   • Well, I must borrow Epidicuss help, tho' I pay dearly for th' use of 't ; but I shall send him to '''Bridewel with his Skin stript o're his Ears, if he ''doesn't procure the hundred Pounds as soon as the last Word's pronounc'd. 1694, Laurence Echard, Plautus's Comedies, Amphitryon, Epidicus, and Rudens: Made English: With Critical Remarks Upon Each Play., London, page 89:
2. (archaic, dialectal) Dost not
   • But Pre'thee tell me, that Woman had very Considerable Friends. Thou doesn't hear that she has Peacht any body, dost thou? 1681, Roger L'Estrange, “The Observator. In Dialogue. Numb. 78. Wednesday, December 7. 1681.”, in The Observator in Dialogue, volume 1, published 1684, page 78:

Forms

Relateds

don't · dun't

Synonyms

don't

Translations (1)

cmn 不 (does not)