There are not that many words in English that can, without any change in their grammar structure, be both a verb, a noun, several slang nouns, and a transitive verb (that is the one that derived from the noun). The verbal meaning of “can” came to our language from either Old High German “kan” (in modern German it is “kann” and has the same meaning as English “can”) or from Old English’s “cunnan” which …showed first 75 words of 1279 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1279 total…the word “can” is a very interest word to examine, and it will become even more interesting with the flow of time. Our language is changing fast, many words that were popular recently became archaic today, and who knows maybe in the future the word “can” will completely replace “may” in its usage. Until then the dictionaries and grammarians agree on the fact that both words have their unique meanings and application in our language.