Word.ws English Dictionary

if'n

if'n is the contraction of if and when.

Meaning of if and when

Conjunction

if and when

  1. At the time of an event, contingent on that event happening at all.
    • [T]o his son Thomas Battersbee, if and when he should attain the age of 21; but if he should die under that age then to his daughter Sophia, if and when she should attain that age...1819, John Wilson, Cases in Chancery [1818-1819], page 90

Conjunction

if'n

  1. (Southern US, dialectal, South Midland US) If.
    • Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe / If'n you don't know by now1962, Bob Dylan, “Don't Think Twice, It's All Right”
    • We'll^([sic]) I'm try'n to cooperate and let you know where I'll be if n you need me!2007, Robert H. Henry, Bowden's South Pass Justice, page 311

Forms of if'n

alternative formiffen
alternative formifen
alternative formeffen
alternative formef'n

Origin of if'n

From if + and (when).

Uncertain. The spelling ef'n is attested since at least 1909. Perhaps a compound of if and an (“if”) (a variant, attested since Middle English, of and (“if”); compare an if and gin (“if”)); if an is attested since at least the 1700s. Alternatively, perhaps a compound of if and -in', generalized from conjunctional uses of considering, excepting, and so on, or of if and -en as in offen (“off”), outen (“out”) (which goes back to Old English ūtan), etc. Compare less'n. Lastly, as with the etymology above, it may be a contraction of if (and) when.

Questions about if'n

What does if'n mean?
If'n means if.
What is if'n the contraction of?
If'n is the contraction of if and when.
What part of speech is if'n?
If'n is a conjunction.

Words near if'n in the dictionary

  1. if you will
  2. if you're not Dutch, you're not much
  3. if you've got it, flaunt it
  4. if you've seen one, you've seen them all
  5. if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail
  6. if'n
  7. if's, and's, or but's
  8. if't
  9. if, as and when
  10. if-bet
  11. if-bets

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: if'n (page history and authors); if and when (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “if'n.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/if%27n. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.