shall

shall
shall (v.) O.E. sceal "I owe/he owes, will have to, ought to, must" (infinitive sculan, pt. sceolde), a common Germanic preterite-present verb, from P.Gmc. *skal-, *skul- (Cf. O.S. sculan, O.N., Swed. skola, M.Du. sullen, O.H.G. solan, Ger. sollen, Goth. skulan "to owe, be under obligation;" related via past tense form to O.E. scyld "guilt," Ger. Schuld "guilt, debt;" also O.N. Skuld, name of one of the Norns).
Ground sense probably is "I owe," hence "I ought." The sense shifted in Middle English from a notion of "obligation" to include "futurity." Its past tense form has become SHOULD (Cf. should) (q.v.). Cognates outside Germanic are Lith. skeleti "to be guilty," skilti "to get into debt;" O.Prus. skallisnan "duty," skellants "guilty."

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Shall — Shall, v. i. & auxiliary. [imp. {Should}.] [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen, pres. zal, imp. zoude, zou, OHG. solan,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • shall — [ ʃəl, strong ʃæl ] modal verb *** Shall is usually followed by an infinitive without to : I shall explain everything later. Sometimes it is used without a following infinitive: I have never visited Africa and probably never shall. Shall does not …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • shall — verb as required will, by compulsion will, by imperative will, mandatorily will, obligatorily will associated concepts: shall be lawful, shall be legal, shall become, shall give, shall have, shall not, shall perform, shall work Burton s Legal… …   Law dictionary

  • shall — W1S3 [ʃəl strong ʃæl] modal v negative short form shan t [: Old English; Origin: sceal] 1.) shall I/we...? spoken used to make a suggestion, or ask a question that you want the other person to decide about ▪ Shall I open the window? ▪ Shall we… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • shall — [shal] v.aux. pt.should [ME schal, pl. schullen < OE sceal, inf. sceolan, akin to Ger sollen < IE base * (s)kel , to be indebted > Lith skeliù, to owe] 1. used in the first person to indicate simple future time [I shall probably go… …   English World dictionary

  • shall — ► MODAL VERB (3rd sing. present shall) 1) (in the first person) expressing the future tense. 2) expressing a strong assertion or intention. 3) expressing an instruction or command. 4) used in questions indicating offers or suggestions. USAGE… …   English terms dictionary

  • shall — [[t]ʃəl, STRONG ʃæl[/t]] ♦♦ (Shall is a modal verb. It is used with the base form of a verb.) 1) MODAL You use shall with I and we in questions in order to make offers or suggestions, or to ask for advice. Shall I get the keys?... I bought some… …   English dictionary

  • shall */*/*/ — strong UK [ʃæl] / US weak UK [ʃəl] / US modal verb Summary: Shall is usually followed by an infinitive without to : I shall explain everything later. Sometimes it is used without a following infinitive: I have never visited America and probably… …   English dictionary

  • shall — /shal/; unstressed /sheuhl/, auxiliary v., pres. sing. 1st pers. shall, 2nd shall or (Archaic) shalt, 3rd shall, pres. pl. shall; past sing. 1st pers. should, 2nd …   Universalium

  • shall */*/*/ — weak [ʃəl] , strong [ʃæl] modal verb summary: ■ Shall is usually followed by an infinitive without ‘to : I shall explain everything later. Sometimes it is used without a following infinitive: I have never visited America and probably never shall …   Dictionary for writing and speaking English

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