Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A verb characteristically used with other verbs to express mood or tense. In English, the modal auxiliaries are can, may, must, ought, shall, should, will, and would. Also called modal.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Gram.) Any one of the auxiliary verbs of English, such as can, may, will, shall, must, might, could, would, or should, which are used together with the infinitive form of another verb to express distinctions of mood{2}, such as uncertainty, possibility, command, emphasis, and obligation.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an auxiliary verb (such as `can' or `will') that is used to express modality
Examples
“In “I may bollix up this explanation,” may is the modal auxiliary that sets the conditional mode, sometimes called “subjunctive mood,” of the verb bollix, a verb whose ancient nautical coinage has its genesis in genitals.”
Simon & Schuster: The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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