Cannot

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈkænÉ’t/
• US
• Hyphenation: can + not
• Rhymes: -É’t

Origin

can + not

Verb

verb

1. Can not (am/is/are unable to).
   I cannot open the window. It is stuck.
2. Am/are/is forbidden or not permitted to
• 1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The DeciÅ¿ions of the Lords of Council & SeÅ¿Å¿ion I (Edinburgh, 1683),

• The Pupil after his Pupillarity, had granted a DiÅ¿charge to one of the Co-tutors, which did extinguiÅ¿h the whole Debt of that Co-tutor, and conÅ¿equently of all the reÅ¿t, they being all correi debendi, lyable by one individual Obligation, which cannot be DiÅ¿charged as to one, and Å¿tand as to all the reÅ¿t.
• 2013-06-21, Karen McVeigh, US rules human genes can't be patented, 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.
1. 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

Full definition of cannot

Noun

1. Something that cannot be done.the cans and cannots

Anagrams

• Canton, canton, noncat