entry
won't
/woʊnt/Contraction meaning “will not”; refusal or future negation
From O.English will (To wish) + O.English not (Nothing).
from Middle English wynnot, wilnot, wolnot, wilnat, a contraction of Middle English will not, wil not, wyll not, will...
from Middle English wynnot, wilnot, wolnot, wilnat, a contraction of Middle English will not, wil not, wyll not, will...
Word Ancestry
from Middle English wynnot, wilnot, wolnot, wilnat, a contraction of Middle English will not, wil not, wyll not, will...
from Middle English wynnot, wilnot, wolnot, wilnat, a contraction of Middle English will not, wil not, wyll not, will...
The compact little word won't hides a small historical drama: will and not began life as separate pieces, then were squeezed together by hurried medieval speech. The older forms included wynnot and wonnot, while Middle English also produced spellings such as wilnot and wolnot—English speakers were clearly experimenting with how much of the phrase they could swallow. Will itself once meant simply “to wish,” a sense still visible in willing and volition; only later did it become the familiar auxiliary of future plans and intentions. Not began as a shortened form of Old English nōht, “nothing,” so won't is, in a loose sense, “I desire nothing of this future action.” By the 1610s the contraction was appearing in verse plays, where rhythm rewarded economy, and centuries later the emphatic standalone use of not was popularized by Wayne’s World sketches on Saturday Night Live in 1989. When someone says “Won’t,” the word carries both an ancient wish and an equally ancient nothing—desire slamming into negation.
The Story
The compact little word won't hides a small historical drama: will and not began life as separate pieces, then were squeezed together by hurried medieval speech. The older forms included wynnot and wonnot, while Middle English also produced spellings such as wilnot and wolnot—English speakers were clearly experimenting with how much of the phrase they could swallow. Will itself once meant simply “to wish,” a sense still visible in willing and volition; only later did it become the familiar auxiliary of future plans and intentions. Not began as a shortened form of Old English nōht, “nothing,” so won't is, in a loose sense, “I desire nothing of this future action.” By the 1610s the contraction was appearing in verse plays, where rhythm rewarded economy, and centuries later the emphatic standalone use of not was popularized by Wayne’s World sketches on Saturday Night Live in 1989. When someone says “Won’t,” the word carries both an ancient wish and an equally ancient nothing—desire slamming into negation.
Modern Usage
In a documented Richmond-Petersburg, Virginia usage, won't can mean “was not” rather than “will not.”
Notable References
- Wayne’s World sketches on Saturday Night Live popularized emphatic standalone not in 1989
Kin & Kindred
From 'will'·To wish, desire, or be willing
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'not'·Nothing; not anything
Derived Terms
English words from this root