Word.ws English Dictionary

shan't

/ʃɑːnt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Scotland/ʃant/

shan't is the contraction of shall.

Meaning of shall

Verb

shall (third-person singular simple present shall, no present participle, simple past should, no past participle)

  1. (auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Used before a verb to indicate the simple future tense in the first person singular or plural.
    • I shall sing in the choir tomorrow.
  2. (auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Used similarly to indicate determination or obligation in the second and third persons singular or plural.
    • (determination): You shall go to the ball!; He shall be given a fair trial.
  3. (auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Used in questions with the first person singular or plural to suggest a possible future action.
    • What shall I do? Shall I give you a hand?
  4. (auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, obsolete) To owe.
    • I thee shall a hundred golden coins; th'amount thou shalt the Queen is much higher.

Forms of shan't

alternative formshalln't
alternative formsha'n't

Origin of shan't

From shall + -n't; contraction of shalln't or shall not, historically via shannot.

Words that rhyme with shan't

18 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about shan't

What is shan't the contraction of?
Shan't is the contraction of shall.
How do you pronounce shan't?
Shan't is pronounced /ʃɑːnt/ (UK).

Words near shan't in the dictionary

  1. shamyanahs
  2. shamyanas
  3. shan
  4. Shan State
  5. Shan Van Vocht
  6. shan't
  7. Shan-hsi
  8. Shan-t'ou
  9. Shan-tung
  10. Shana
  11. shana tova

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shan't (page history and authors); shall (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)-Vealhurl-shan't.wav, En-us-shan't.oga.

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