wasn't en · VERB
Pronunciation
- [ˈwʌz.n̩(t)] (US)
- [ˈwɒz.n̩(ʔ)] (UK)
- /ˈwʌz.ənt/ (US)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈwɒz.ənt/ (UK)
- (General-American) audio
- [ˈwʌd.n̩(t)] (colloquial, dialectal)
- [ˈwɒn.(ʔ)] (UK)
Etymology
Contraction of was + not. By surface analysis, was + -n't.
Meanings
-
(abbreviation, alt-of, auxiliary, contraction, in the negative) Contraction of was + not.
alt of was
Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …
1899, Hughes Mearns, Antigonish:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| wuzzent | alternative, pronunciation-spelling | lexicographic | |
| wadn't | alternative | lexicographic | |
| wuzn't | alternative, pronunciation-spelling | lexicographic | |
| warn't | alternative | lexicographic | |
| wazn't | alternative, pronunciation-spelling | lexicographic | |
| wudn't | alternative | lexicographic | |
| wan't | alternative | lexicographic | |
| wa'n't | alternative | lexicographic | |
| wasnt | Polite=Infm | alternative, nonstandard | lexicographic |
| wunt | alternative | lexicographic |