Wiktionary says:

Abbreviation of wollnot or woll + not, negations of archaic form of will.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology agrees:

XVII. contr. of wonnot, assim. of wol not

As to other forms, Etymonline only mentions wynnot:

first recorded mid-15c. as wynnot, later wonnot (1580s) before the modern form [won't] emerged 1660s.

Answer from RegDwigнt on Stack Exchange
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QuillBot
quillbot.com › home › is cannot a contraction?
Is cannot a contraction?
March 7, 2025 - “Cannot” is not a contraction. It is the full negative form of the modal verb “can” (e.g., “I cannot attend the meeting today”).
People also ask

What are contractions?
Contractions are two or more words that are combined and shortened to save time. Typically, you can identify a contraction by the apostrophe, as with isn’t or they’ve—but don’t confuse contractions with possessive nouns, which also use apostrophes.
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grammarly.com
grammarly.com › blog › grammar › contractions
What Are Contractions in Writing? Definition and Examples | Grammarly
When should you use contractions?
Contractions are considered informal, so they should not be used in formal writing like academic papers.
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grammarly.com
grammarly.com › blog › grammar › contractions
What Are Contractions in Writing? Definition and Examples | Grammarly
What are some examples of contractions?
Some of the most common contractions in English include can’t, it’s, they’ve, what’s, and would’ve.
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grammarly.com
grammarly.com › blog › grammar › contractions
What Are Contractions in Writing? Definition and Examples | Grammarly
Top answer
1 of 6
47

Wiktionary says:

Abbreviation of wollnot or woll + not, negations of archaic form of will.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology agrees:

XVII. contr. of wonnot, assim. of wol not

As to other forms, Etymonline only mentions wynnot:

first recorded mid-15c. as wynnot, later wonnot (1580s) before the modern form [won't] emerged 1660s.

2 of 6
42

Won’t actually has a pretty interesting and complex history. Ultimately it does come from a contraction of will and not, but it all happened in a rather roundabout way.

It all started off with the Old English verb willan/wyllan, meaning to will, wish, or want. Even in Old English it was used occasionally to denote a future intent. “Ic wille gan” could mean “I want to go” or “I will go”, depending on context.

Now, the thing about negatives in Old English is that they were often reduced:

na(w)ðer = nahwæðer = ne + hwæðer
neither = not + whether

næfre = ne + æfre
never = not + ever

nabbað = ne + habbað
haven’t = have + not

We nabbað naðor ne hlaf ne wæter.
We have neither bread nor water.

Not comes from naht via noht. Related to nawiht meaning naught, it originally meant in no way, but came to be used as an emphatic form of ne. Subsequently it became unstressed and supplanted ne altogether. This is an example of Jespersen’s Cycle.

All these things combined led to a new negative form of willan, wynnot. The past forms of willan began with wold-, which is where we get would. Under the influence of these forms and the related verb wol, wynnot became wonnot by the late 1500s.

Finally, the modern form won’t emerged by the 1660s as a result of reducing the final vowel in wonnot. It appears to be the first word so contracted; most of the other -n’t contractions we use today (can’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t, &c.) arose in the 1700s, modelled after won’t. In modern English, cannot is the only uncontracted -not compound that survives.

As for the other contractions such as -’ll and -’ve, their history is just as long, though perhaps slightly less convoluted. But that’s a story for a different question. ;)

Also, remember that spelling in Old English was less standardised than in modern English. There were often several equally valid ways to spell the same word, especially when you took different accents and dialects into account. So sometimes it’s difficult to get a good historical account of pronunciation and usage changes. Still, as far as I can tell, this is basically how it went down.

Source: The Online Etymology Dictionary.

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Quora
quora.com › If-can-t-is-a-contraction-of-cannot-and-won-t-is-a-contraction-of-will-not-then-what-is-ain-t-a-contraction-of
If “can’t” is a contraction of “cannot,” and “won’t” is a contraction of “will not,” then what is “ain’t” a contraction of? - Quora
Answer (1 of 9): From: ain't | Definition of ain't in English by Oxford Dictionaries “I ain’t coming to your party.” - “I’m not coming to your party.” “I ain’t got a penny.” - “I have not got a penny.” “It’s pretty, ain’t it?” - “It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Note though, that although “ain’t” is w...
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Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › dictionary › english › couldn-t
COULDN'T | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
COULDN'T definition: 1. short form of could not: 2. short form of could not: 3. contraction of could not: . Learn more.
Find elsewhere
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Grammarly
grammarly.com › blog › grammar › contractions
What Are Contractions in Writing? Definition and Examples | Grammarly
August 10, 2022 - Contractions are a unique type of word that combines two or more other words in a shortened form, usually with an apostrophe. Contractions take words that usually go together, like can not or I have, and then remove certain letters to shorten them and make other words, like can’t or I’ve.
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Merriam-Webster
merriam-webster.com › thesaurus › contraction
CONTRACTION Synonyms: 33 Similar and Opposite Words | Merriam-Webster Thesaurus
Synonyms for CONTRACTION: compression, squeezing, contracting, condensing, condensation, squeeze, constriction, consolidation; Antonyms of CONTRACTION: expansion, dispersion, decompression, inflation, scattering, dissipation, dilation, swelling
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GCFGlobal
edu.gcfglobal.org › en › grammar › contractions › 1
Grammar: Contractions
A contraction is a word made by shortening and combining two words. Words like can't (can + not), don't (do + not), and I've (I + have) are all contractions.
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WordReference
forum.wordreference.com › english only › english only
"couldn't" vs "could not" | WordReference Forums
October 30, 2012 - To me, both options sound unlikely - I'm actually under the impression that a is even ungrammatical. I would have picked She must not have seen you or She could not have seen you. What do you guys think about it? Thank you very much in advance! ... English-U.S. ... "Couldn't" is just a contraction of "could not." They mean the same thing.
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University of Hull Library
libguides.hull.ac.uk › writing › contractions
Contractions - Writing academically - Library at University of Hull
This page gives examples of common contractions and what to use instead. * It is a common misconception that the non-abbreviated form of could've and should've is 'could of' and 'should of'. Please note this is not the case and the full form uses the word 'have'.
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Quora
quora.com › Is-the-contraction-like-cant-one-word-or-two
Is the contraction like “can't” one word or two? - Quora
Answer (1 of 5): All contractions including “can’t” are considered single words. They represent two words, and we take the two words and shorten them to one word. So “can’t” is one word. In this case, the original word is one word—”cannot”—but it’s made up of two words—can and not.
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Quora
quora.com › Why-is-it-that-someone-uses-contractions-like-“don’t”-“won’t”-or-“haven’t”-but-always-says-“cannot”-instead-of-“can’t”
Why is it that someone uses contractions like “don’t”, “won’t”, or “haven’t”, but always says “cannot” instead of “can’t”? - Quora
Answer (1 of 6): I was raised and educated in an era when rules of grammar were rigidly and even fanatically enforced. Even today, I have to more or less force myself to use contractions when I write because I know that if I didn’t, my writing would seem impossibly stilted by today’s standards.
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University of Nevada, Reno
unr.edu › university › writing & speaking center › writing & speaking resources › contractions
Contractions | University Writing & Speaking Center | University of Nevada, Reno
Contractions that take out the second letter of the second word: Note: Contractions that use the word “not” will replace the “o” with an apostrophe (‘).
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Enchanted Learning
enchantedlearning.com › grammar › contractions
Contractions - Enchanted Learning
March 9, 2006 - Some contractions are: I’m (I am), can’t (cannot), how’s (how is), and Ma’am (Madam).
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University of Sussex
sussex.ac.uk › informatics › punctuation › apostrophe › contractions
Contractions : The Apostrophe
The apostrophe is used in writing contractions — that is, shortened forms of words from which one or more letters have been omitted. In standard English, this generally happens only with a small number of conventional items, mostly involving verbs. Here are some of the commonest examples, with their uncontracted equivalents: ... Note in each case that the apostrophe appears precisely in the position of the omitted letters: we write can't, not *ca'nt, and aren't, not *are'nt.
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Thesaurus.com
thesaurus.com › browse › contraction
CONTRACTION Synonyms & Antonyms - 69 words | Thesaurus.com
Find 69 different ways to say CONTRACTION, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com.
Top answer
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27

No, double or multiple contractions are not formal.

While some style guides support the moderate use of common contractions, even single contractions are sometimes discouraged in formal writing. See MLA style on contractions and this roundup of views on contractions.

Edit to address some of the points in the comments:

  • In formal writing, it is appropriate to use contractions if you are quoting a line of text or speech that contains contractions, or if the topic you are discussing is the use of contractions.

  • O'clock is standard and formal.

  • Diacritical marks in words like Qur'an, Hawai'i and Xi'an are not contractions and are not discouraged.

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5

I agree with Katy's answer that in quite formal contexts even individual contractions are frowned upon. But, since you ask about double contractions, you may be interested in writing that is informal enough that contractions are acceptable, but still somewhat formal. And, generally, your intuition is valid that doubling up contractions increases the informality. For instance, a news article about trade negotiations is generally written in a fairly formal style, but contractions are often shown in quoted speech. But, if someone said "wouldn't've" out loud, that would show up as "wouldn't have" in the article.

On the other hand, the way you write dialogue in a novel is part of your style. You may want to convey more about how the speech is being delivered than what comes across in standard, cleaned-up prose. I would still advocate restraint. Complicated contractions, like dialect respellings, tend to stand out and can distract the reader.