"mayn't" meaning in All languages combined

See mayn't on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

IPA: /ˈmeɪnt/, /ˈmeɪ.ənt/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-mayn't.wav [US] Forms: mayn't [present, singular, third-person], mightn't [past]
Rhymes: -eɪnt, -eɪənt Etymology: From may + -n't. Etymology templates: {{ety|en|:af|may|-n't|text=+|tree=1}} From may + -n't. Head templates: {{en-verb|~|-|mightn't|-}} mayn't (third-person singular simple present mayn't, no present participle, simple past mightn't, no past participle)
  1. (archaic) may not (negative auxiliary) Tags: archaic, no-past-participle, no-present-participle Coordinate_terms: can't, couldn't, mightn't, oughtn't, shan't, shouldn't, won't, wouldn't Translations (contraction of "may not", might not): kei kore (Māori), nie można [imperfective] (Polish), no poder (Spanish)
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        "2": ":af",
        "3": "may",
        "4": "-n't",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
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      "expansion": "From may + -n't.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
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  "etymology_text": "From may + -n't.",
  "forms": [
    {
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      "tags": [
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        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mightn't",
      "tags": [
        "past"
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      "args": {
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        "3": "mightn't",
        "4": "-"
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      "expansion": "mayn't (third-person singular simple present mayn't, no present participle, simple past mightn't, no past participle)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
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      "parts": [
        "may",
        "n't"
      ]
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
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          "word": "can't"
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          "word": "couldn't"
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        {
          "word": "mightn't"
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        {
          "word": "oughtn't"
        },
        {
          "word": "shan't"
        },
        {
          "word": "shouldn't"
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        {
          "word": "won't"
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          "word": "wouldn't"
        }
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          "ref": "1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 40.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "I mayn't have much head, master, but I’ve head enough to remember those that use me ill.",
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          "ref": "1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XVII, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:",
          "text": "\"Now, father,\" said Nancy, \"is there any call for you to go home to tea? Mayn't you just as well stay with us?--such a beautiful evening as it's likely to be.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "ref": "1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “The Mock Turtle’s Story”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 142:",
          "text": "\"Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't believe it—\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              4,
              10
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          "ref": "1914, Saki, The Romancers:",
          "text": "You mayn't hardly believe it, but at the present moment I am absolutely without a farthing.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
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          "ref": "1930, H. P. Lovecraft, Madusa's Coil:",
          "text": "I can't help about other people. But I surely would like to have a spot to stop till daylight. Still - if people don't relish this place, mayn't it be because it's getting so run-down?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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        "may not (negative auxiliary)"
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      "links": [
        [
          "may",
          "may"
        ],
        [
          "not",
          "not"
        ]
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        "(archaic) may not (negative auxiliary)"
      ],
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        "no-past-participle",
        "no-present-participle"
      ],
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        {
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Māori",
          "lang_code": "mi",
          "sense": "contraction of \"may not\", might not",
          "word": "kei kore"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "contraction of \"may not\", might not",
          "tags": [
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          ],
          "word": "nie można"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "contraction of \"may not\", might not",
          "word": "no poder"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
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      "ipa": "/ˈmeɪnt/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmeɪ.ənt/"
    },
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      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪnt"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪənt"
    }
  ],
  "word": "mayn't"
}
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      "word": "couldn't"
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    {
      "word": "mightn't"
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    {
      "word": "oughtn't"
    },
    {
      "word": "shan't"
    },
    {
      "word": "shouldn't"
    },
    {
      "word": "won't"
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    {
      "word": "wouldn't"
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  "etymology_text": "From may + -n't.",
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    {
      "form": "mayn't",
      "tags": [
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        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mightn't",
      "tags": [
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      "parts": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
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        "English entries with etymology trees",
        "English entries with etymon",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂ey- (life)",
        "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wekʷ-",
        "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *weǵʰ-",
        "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *h₂óyu",
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        "Pages with etymology trees",
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        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "Rhymes:English/eɪnt",
        "Rhymes:English/eɪnt/1 syllable",
        "Rhymes:English/eɪənt",
        "Rhymes:English/eɪənt/2 syllables",
        "Terms with Māori translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations"
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          "text": "I mayn't have much head, master, but I’ve head enough to remember those that use me ill.",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "ref": "1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XVII, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:",
          "text": "\"Now, father,\" said Nancy, \"is there any call for you to go home to tea? Mayn't you just as well stay with us?--such a beautiful evening as it's likely to be.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "ref": "1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “The Mock Turtle’s Story”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 142:",
          "text": "\"Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't believe it—\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              4,
              10
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          ],
          "ref": "1914, Saki, The Romancers:",
          "text": "You mayn't hardly believe it, but at the present moment I am absolutely without a farthing.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              138,
              144
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          ],
          "ref": "1930, H. P. Lovecraft, Madusa's Coil:",
          "text": "I can't help about other people. But I surely would like to have a spot to stop till daylight. Still - if people don't relish this place, mayn't it be because it's getting so run-down?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "may not (negative auxiliary)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "may",
          "may"
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        [
          "not",
          "not"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic) may not (negative auxiliary)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "no-past-participle",
        "no-present-participle"
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  "sounds": [
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      "ipa": "/ˈmeɪnt/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmeɪ.ənt/"
    },
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      "tags": [
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      "rhymes": "-eɪnt"
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    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪənt"
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Māori",
      "lang_code": "mi",
      "sense": "contraction of \"may not\", might not",
      "word": "kei kore"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "contraction of \"may not\", might not",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "nie można"
    },
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      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "contraction of \"may not\", might not",
      "word": "no poder"
    }
  ],
  "word": "mayn't"
}

Download raw JSONL data for mayn't meaning in All languages combined (4.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.