Etymology

isn't

Today it means: Something or someone that is defined by the lack of the characteristic being discussed. Full definition →

English not ← Middle English not ← Old English *nōht
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁es-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ésti
  3. Proto-Germanic*isti
  4. Proto-West Germanic*ist
  5. Old Englishis
  6. Middle Englishis
  7. Englishis
  8. Proto-Indo-European*né
  9. Proto-Germanic*ne
  10. Proto-West Germanic*ne
  11. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ey-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₂óyu
  13. Proto-Germanic*aiwaz
  14. Proto-West Germanic*aiw
  15. Proto-West Germanic*naiw
  16. Proto-Indo-European*wekʷ-
  17. Proto-Indo-European*wékʷtisder.?
  18. Proto-Indo-European*weǵʰ-
  19. Proto-Indo-European*wéǵʰtisder.?
  20. Proto-Germanic*wihtą
  21. Proto-West Germanic*wiht
  22. Proto-West Germanic*naiwwiht
  23. Old Englishnāwiht
  24. Old English*nōht
  25. Middle Englishnought
  26. Middle Englishnot
  27. Englishnot
  28. English todayisn't

From is + -n't.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.