won't

See also: wont and wo'n't

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Contraction of will not.[1] Some suppose a contraction of woll not, but it does not have to be the case, as both the /w/ and /l/ of will could have caused labialization.

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /wəʊnt/
  • (General American) enPR: wōnt, IPA(key): /woʊnt/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Homophone: wont (one pronunciation)
  • Rhymes: -əʊnt

Verb

won't

  1. will not (negative auxiliary[2]); used to indicate a future non-occurring action.
    Sam won't be doing any work this afternoon.

Synonyms

Translations

See also
  • Appendix:English modal verbs
  • Appendix:English tag questions

References
  1. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/won-t
  2. Arnold M. Zwicky and Geoffrey K. Pullum, Cliticization vs. Inflection: English n’t, Language 59 (3), 1983, pp. 502-513

Anagrams
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