cannot

Verb

 * 1) Can not (be unable to).
 * 2) Be forbidden or not permitted to
 * 3) * 1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575
 * The Pupil after his Pupillarity, had granted a Diſcharge to one of the Co-tutors, which did extinguiſh the whole Debt of that Co-tutor, and conſequently of all the reſt, they being all correi debendi, lyable by one individual Obligation, which cannot be Diſcharged as to one, and ſtand as to all the reſt.
 * The Pupil after his Pupillarity, had granted a Diſcharge to one of the Co-tutors, which did extinguiſh the whole Debt of that Co-tutor, and conſequently of all the reſt, they being all correi debendi, lyable by one individual Obligation, which cannot be Diſcharged as to one, and ſtand as to all the reſt.

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 generally required in constructions where not is part of a set phrase, such as 'not only... but (also)': Paul can not only sing well, but also paint brilliantly.

An important contrast is that cannot is definitive, whereas can not is open to other options: Jane cannot go to the party. indicates an insurmountable obstacle preventing Jane's attendance at the party, whilst Jane can not go to the party. indicates that Jane is free to choose to attend or be absent.

In spoken English emphasis may be placed on the first syllable of cannot (e.g. /ˈkænɒt/) in the first phrase and on not in the second phrase (e.g. /kən ˈnɒt/) when it is intended to clearly articulate which form is meant.

Translations

 * American Sign Language: 1@NearSternumhigh-PalmForward-1@Chesthigh-TipAcross FastContact 1@FromBackFinger-PalmDown-1@Chesthigh-TipAcross
 * Arabic:, لَا يَسْتَطِيع
 * Bulgarian: не може
 * Catalan: no poder
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:, , , , e.g.:
 * Czech: nemoct
 * Danish: kan ikke
 * Dutch: niet kunnen
 * Finnish: ei voi ; ei osaa
 * French: ne pas pouvoir
 * German: nicht können
 * Italian: non potere
 * Jamaican Creole: cyaan
 * Japanese: できない ;, ならない, いけない ; e.g.: 読めない,　 食べられない / 食べれない
 * Khmer: មិនអាច
 * Korean:, ...수 없다,
 * Latin: non posse,, nequeo, ,  interdicitur,  vetatur,  non licet
 * Latvian: nevar, nespēj
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: kan ikke
 * Old Turkic: 𐰆𐰢𐰀
 * Pitcairn-Norfolk: kaa
 * Polish: nie móc
 * Portuguese: não pode
 * Russian: не мо́чь (e.g. я не могу - I can't),
 * Slovak: nemôcť, nebyť schopný, nedokázať
 * Spanish: no poder
 * Thai: ...ไม่ได้, ...ไม่เป็น
 * Turkish: -ama, -eme
 * Vietnamese: có thể không
 * Welsh:, ffili, dim gallu

Noun

 * 1) Something that cannot be done.
 * 2) A person who cannot do (something).
 * 1) A person who cannot do (something).

Etymology
Related to 🇨🇬 and ; see there for more. Cognate with 🇨🇬.

Noun

 * 1)  duckling