skylla

Swedish

Etymology

From skuld (debt) and its archaic form skull (behalf), originally meaning to be in debt, i.e. to be the one who needs to pay for something. Hence the roles have switched from carrying blame to putting blame.

Pronunciation

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Verb

skylla (present skyller, preterite skyllde, supine skyllt, imperative skyll)

1. (transitively with på) to blame

   Vi tänker skylla på Nisse

   We are going to blame Nisse

   Jag skyller på otur

   I blame bad luck

   De misstänkta skyller på varandra

   The suspects blame each other

   Sjunken i elände, skyllde han sina motgångar på yttre omständigheter

   Sunken in misery, he blamed his misfortune on external circumstances

2. (with för to specify the accusation) to accuse

   Synonyms: (more common) anklaga, (more common) beskylla

   De skyller mig för att vara lögnare

   They accuse me of being a liar

   Jag skylls för att vara lögnare

   I am being accused of being a liar

3. (archaic) to owe, to be in debt, to be indebted, to carry blame

   Tag mot dem som en skatt den jag dig skyller (translation by Hagberg)

   Receive them then, the tribute that I owe (Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, act 1)

Conjugation

Conjugation of skylla (weak)

	active		passive
infinitive	skylla		skyllas
supine	skyllt		skyllts
imperative	skyll		—
imper. plural1	skyllen		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	skyller	skyllde	skylls, skylles	skylldes
ind. plural1	skylla	skyllde	skyllas	skylldes
subjunctive2	skylle	skyllde	skylles	skylldes
present participle		skyllande
past participle		skylld

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Derived terms

• få skylla sig själv
• skylla ifrån sig

Related terms

• beskylla

References

• skylla in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• skylla in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• skylla in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• skylla in Reverso Context (Swedish-English)

Anagrams

• alkyls