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The term ain't is a 17th Century contraction form that is no longer considered acceptable English.

Proper is "am not" (first person), "aren't" (second person or plural), or "isn't" (third person, thing).

Although commonly used, ain't is not proper English and ranks alongside innit in indicating that the user has had a poor education. It is often used for effect by those who realize that it is not proper English. It also appears in period dialogue.

Answer:

The word 'ain't' is a word. The term came from 'an't', a seventeenth-century contraction of 'am not', later also used in place of 'are not'. 'Ain't' also commonly contracts 'has not', 'have not', and 'is not'. Like other contractions - such as 'it's', 'don't', 'can't', 'isn't', and so on - 'ain't' is described as nonstandard, informal, or colloquial, but unlike many similar and now-acceptable contractions is still considered by some to indicate lack of education or culture; to be, in effect, lower-class usage.

Today, 'ain't' is very commonly used, even by those who don't consider themselves to be at all lower-class. It's especially popular in humorous usage, or as emphasis. For example:

'Ain't that the truth!'

'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

'Ain't that a beauty!'

'Ain't' also figures in many famous song titles and lyrics. Like the similarly-nonstandard term, 'gonna', 'ain't' is frequently used to suggest a roguish, defiant or rebellious turn of phrase: 'He ain't gonna like it!'

And, of course, like 'gonna', 'ain't' is often used simply to annoy those who fear that it sounds uneducated.

As with all words, the test of whether they are what some refer to as 'real' words is: are they in popular usage? This is how any word makes it into standard dictionaries; if sufficient numbers of people use a word, then it's a word.
The way I heard that old chestnut was, "'Ain't' ain't a word, so I ain't gonna use it." In reality, ain't is a contraction of 'am not'.

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