knot and not are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. knot means “a tight cluster of people or things”. not means “negation of a word or group of words”. not is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈnɑt/
1.n.a tight cluster of people or things
“a small knot of women listened to his sermon”
2.n.any of various fastenings formed by looping and tying a rope (or cord) upon itself or to another rope or to another object
3.n.a hard cross-grained round piece of wood in a board where a branch emerged
“the saw buckled when it hit a knot”
/ˈnɑt/
1.adv.negation of a word or group of words
“he does not speak French”
| knot | not | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈnɑt/ | /ˈnɑt/ |
| Said | naht | naht |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 4 | 3 |
| Parts of speech | noun, verb | adverb |
| Senses | 10 | 1 |
| How common | Common | Core |
| Synonyms | none recorded | non |