Word.ws English Dictionary

sha'n't

UK/ˈʃɑːnt//ˈʃænt/

sha'n't contraction: dated spelling of shan't.

Contraction

sha'n't

  1. (contraction) Dated spelling of shan't.
    • Bel[linda] […] Nay you ſha'n't go one ſtep out of the room. / […] Lady B[rute] Pray give me leave. / Lady Fanc[yfull] You know I won't. / Lady B. Indeed I muſt. / Lady Fanc. Indeed you ſha'n't. / Lady B. Indeed I will. / Lady Fanc. Indeed you ſha'n't. / Lady B. Indeed I will. / Lady Fanc. Indeed...1697, [John Vanbrugh], The Provok'd Wife: A Comedy, as It is Acted at the New Theatre, in Little Lincolns-Inn-Fields, London: Printed by J. O. for R. Wellington, at the Lute in St. Paul's Church...
    • [Alice:] I'm sure I sha'n't be able!1866, Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, chapter 2, →ISBN, page 14

Examples of sha'n't in a sentence

  • Bel[linda] […] Nay you ſha'n't go one ſtep out of the room. / […] Lady B[rute] Pray give me leave. / Lady Fanc[yfull] You know I won't. / Lady B.1697, [John Vanbrugh], The Provok'd Wife: A Comedy, as It is Acted at the New Theatre, in Little Lincolns-Inn-Fields, London: Printed by J....
  • That's not a threat, sir, for they have played fair with me, and I sha'n't sacrifice a penny of their money—unless they force me to do so.1922, Rex [Ellingwood] Beach, “chapter XXIV”, in Flowing Gold, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, by arrangement with Harper &...

Origin of sha'n't

Contraction of shall + not.

Words that rhyme with sha'n't

Questions about sha'n't

What does sha'n't mean?
Sha'n't means dated spelling of shan't.
How do you use sha'n't in a sentence?
Bel[linda] […] Nay you ſha'n't go one ſtep out of the room. / […] Lady B[rute] Pray give me leave. / Lady Fanc[yfull] You know I won't. / Lady B.
What part of speech is sha'n't?
Sha'n't is a contraction.
How do you pronounce sha'n't?
Sha'n't is pronounced /ˈʃɑːnt/ (UK).

Words near sha'n't in the dictionary

  1. Sha Tau Kok
  2. Sha Tin
  3. Sha'aban
  4. Sha'anxi
  5. Sha'ban
  6. sha'n't
  7. sha'not
  8. Sha-shih
  9. shaadi
  10. shaadis
  11. shaal

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sha'n't (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-sha'n't.wav.

Cite this entry: “sha'n't.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sha%27n%27t. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.