wont
[wawnt, wohnt, wuhnt]Archaic or Literary.
- accustomed; used (usually followed by an infinitive): He was wont to rise at dawn.
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- custom; habit; practice: It was her wont to walk three miles before breakfast.
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- to accustom (a person), as to a thing: That summer wonted me to a lifetime of early rising.
- to render (a thing) customary or usual (usually used passively).
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- to be wont.
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Origin of wont
1300–50; (adj.) Middle English wont, woned, Old English gewunod, past participle of gewunian to be used to (see won2); cognate with German gewöhnt; (v.) Middle English, back formation from wonted or wont (past participle); (noun) apparently from conflation of wont (past participle) with obsolete wone wish, in certain stereotyped phrases
Synonyms
See more synonyms for wont on Thesaurus.com1. habituated, wonted. 2. use.
Antonyms
1. unaccustomed.
won't
[wohnt, wuhnt]
- contraction of will not: He won't see you now.
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Usage note
See contraction.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for wont
Contemporary Examples
Forgive my candor, though such is my wont, but much like that moose on a spit, Bernie is dead.
The U.K. tabloids, as is their wont, have branded her “shameless,” “sordid,” and “the scourge of society.”
The X Factor of Sex Invades Britain: Rebecca More’s ‘Sex Tour’ Enrages UK PoliticiansMarlow Stern
October 20, 2014
It has been, as contestants on TV talent shows are wont to say, a “journey.”
Allen responded with his own op-ed in the Times, and the media, as is their wont, proceeded to pick sides.
Woody Allen on ‘Magic in the Moonlight,’ the Crisis in Gaza, and Those AllegationsMarlow Stern
July 18, 2014
As celebrities on the movie promotion circuit are wont to do, Cameron Diaz is hawking her latest cause celebre.
Waxing: Damned if You Do and Damned if You Don’t: How Pubic Hair Became PoliticalEmily Shire
April 10, 2014
Historical Examples
Speak to me as is your wont—with the same kindliness and warmth—you know I am bound to you.
I am a peaceful trader, and I am not wont to be so shouted at upon so small a matter.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
Burke took refuge, as his wont was when too hard pressed, in a mighty bellow.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
Indeed, on the morrow she seated herself at the work-frame and embroidered as she was wont to do.
The DreamEmile Zola
You told me that you and your father were wont to go out together in the morning.
Fair MargaretH. Rider Haggard
wont
- (postpositive) accustomed (to doing something)he was wont to come early
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- a manner or action habitually employed by or associated with someone (often in the phrases as is my wont, as is his wont, etc)
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- (when tr, usually passive) to become or cause to become accustomed
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Word Origin
Old English gewunod, past participle of wunian to be accustomed to; related to Old High German wunēn (German wohnen), Old Norse una to be satisfied; see wean 1, wish, winsome
won't
- will not
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for wont
adj.
"accustomed," Old English wunod, past participle of wunian "to dwell, be accustomed," from Proto-Germanic *wun- "to be content, to rejoice" (cf. Old Saxon wunon, Old Frisian wonia "to dwell, remain, be used to," Old High German wonen, German wohnen "to dwell;" related to Old English winnan, gewinnan "to win" (see win) and to wean. The noun meaning "habitual usage, custom" is attested from c.1300.
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won't
contraction of will not, first recorded mid-15c. as wynnot, later wonnot (1580s) before the modern form emerged 1660s. See will.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper