cannot

English

Etymology

can +‎ not

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkænɒt/
(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 (am/is/are unable to).
I cannot open the window. It is stuck.
Am/are/is 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.

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). The two-word form is better only in a construction in which 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

American Sign Language: 1@NearSternumhigh-PalmForward-1@Chesthigh-TipAcross FastContact 1@FromBackFinger-PalmDown-1@Chesthigh-TipAcross
Bulgarian: не може (ne može)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 不會 (zh), 不会 (zh) (bù huì), 不要 (zh) (bù yào), 不能 (zh) (bù néng), 不行 (zh) (bù xíng), (negative verb complements used) e.g.: ...不了 (zh) (...bùliǎo)
Dutch: niet kunnen
Finnish: ei osaa, ei voi
French: ne pas pouvoir
German: nicht können
Italian: non potere
Japanese: ...できない (...dekinai) (unable); ...駄目である (ja) (...だめである, ...dame dearu), ...してはならない (...shite-wa naranai), ...してはいけない (...shite-wa ikenai) (not allowed); (potential negative forms used) e.g.: 読めない (yomenai),　食べられない (taberarenai) / 食べれない (taberenai)
Khmer: មិនអាច (mɨn aac)
Korean: 못 (ko) (mot), ...수 없다 (...su eopda), 못하다 (ko) (mothada)
Latin: non posse, nescio, nequeo, (more a pronome in indirect object) prohibetur (la), (more a pronome in indirect object)) interdicitur, (more a pronome in indirect object)) vetatur, (more a pronome in indirect object) non licet

Latvian: nevar, nespēj
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kan ikke
Old Turkic: 𐰆𐰢𐰀‎ (uma-)
Pitcairn-Norfolk: kaa
Polish: nie móc
Portuguese: não pode
Russian: не мо́чь (ne móčʹ) (e.g. я не могу - I can't), нельзя́ (ru) (nelʹzjá) (not allowed)
Spanish: no poder
Thai: ...ไม่ได้ (...mâi dâai), ...ไม่เป็น (...mâi bpen)
Turkish: -ama, -eme
Vietnamese: có thể không
Welsh: methu (cy), ffili

Noun

cannot (plural cannots)

Something that cannot be done.
the cans and cannots

Anagrams

Canton, Conant, canton, noncat

Norman

Noun

cannot m (plural cannots)

(Jersey) duckling

Derived terms

cannoter (“to walk like a duck”)

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