doesn't
- 1Contraction of "does not," the negative form of the auxiliary verb used with he, she, it, or a singular subject.
He doesn't understand why the meeting was canceled.
This machine doesn't work without electricity.
Note
Built from does plus the clitic -n't, the contraction took a while to settle on paper. Peter Anthony Motteux's 1693 translation of Rabelais prints it do's n't, split in two with two apostrophes. Laurence Echard's Plautus of 1694 already has the modern doesn't. Today it is the standard negative after he, she, it or a singular noun, and careful usage rejects don't in that position.
- 2An archaic or dialectal second-person singular negative meaning "dost not": "do not" used with the pronoun "thou."
Thou doesn't fear the storm, though the others tremble at it.
But Pre'thee tell me, that Woman had very Considerable Friends. Thou doesn't hear that she has Peacht any body, dost thou?
1681, Roger L'Estrange, “The Observator. In Dialogue. Numb. 78. Wednesday, December 7. 1681.”Note
Here a third-person form does the work of the old second person: thou doesn't, built from does + -n't, where the older pattern pairs thou with dost. Roger L'Estrange's The Observator (1681) shows both in one breath: "Thou doesn't hear that she has Peacht any body, dost thou?" Doesn't carries the statement, and dost carries the closing question. It belongs to archaic or regional speech. Elsewhere, doesn't is the ordinary negative auxiliary.
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Origin
Formed from "does" combined with the contraction "-n't".