Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “shouldn't've” come from?

shouldn't've (English) comes from English shouldn’t, from English -n’t, from English Not, from Middle English not, from Middle English nought, from Old English nōwiht, from Old English ne, from Old English ealles — Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Ancestry of “shouldn't've”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishshouldn’t—
2English-n’t—
3EnglishNot—
4Middle Englishnotnot; nothing, nought; nobody, no person
5Middle Englishnoughtnothing, none; not; iniquitous, wicked
6Old Englishnōwiht—
7Old Englishnenot; or, and not; "ne... ne..." is used to mean "...
8Old Englisheallescompletely, wholly, entirely; totally,...
9Old English-espossessive marker, indicating that an object...
10Proto-Germanic-as—
11Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
12Proto-Indo-European-ess—
13Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →