ain't
Am notAm not.
Meaning
5 senses(dialectal, informal, nonstandard)Am not.
I ain’t ready yet; gimme a sec.
Ain’t I a woman?
(dialectal, informal, nonstandard)Are not, aren’t; is not, isn’t.
That ain't right.
(dialectal, informal, nonstandard)Have not, haven’t; has not, hasn’t, when used as an auxiliary.
(dialectal, informal, nonstandard)Don’t, doesn’t.
Well, I ain’t wanna do that though.
(dialectal, informal, nonstandard)Didn’t.
I ain’t go into the bathroom last night that late.
Origin
According to Etymology Online, the term was first attested in 1706 meaning am not, and itAccording to Etymology Online, the term was first attested in 1706 meaning am not, and it was used with that sense until the early 19th century, when it began to be used as a generic contraction for are not, is not, etc. in the Cockney dialect. It was then “popularized by representations of London cockney dialect in Dickens, etc., which led to the word being banished […] from correct English”.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
ain'ts, ain'ting, ain'ted, ain'tedSynonyms
4 synonymsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb