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SHALL
Definition of SHALL
verb
Used before a verb to indicate the simple future tense in the first person singular or plural.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English schal (infinitive schulen), from Old English sċeal (infinitive sċulan (“should, must”)), from Proto-West Germanic *skulan, from Proto-Germanic *skal (infinitive *skulaną), from Proto-Indo-European *skel- (“to owe, be under obligation”). Cognate with Scots sall, sal (“shall”), North Frisian skal, schal, Saterland Frisian skäl, schäl, schal (infinitive skälle, schälle), West Frisian sil (infinitive sille (“shall”)), Dutch zal (infinitive zullen (“shall”)), Afrikaans sal, Low German schall (infinitive schölen (“shall”)), German soll (infinitive sollen (“ought to”)), Danish skal (infinitive skulle (“shall”)), Icelandic skal (infinitive skulu (“shall”)), Swedish skall (“shall”) (infinitive skola).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,769)
How it is built
Its etymology also names Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Scots, Swedish.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SHALL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 145, 12 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 21 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 145, 12 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SHALL starts with S and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read AHLLS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. L appears more than once, including a double letter.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SHALL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found SHALL?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 145 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER