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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Shall \Shall\, v. i. & auxiliary. [imp. {Should}.] [OE. shal,
schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged,
imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres.
skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen, pres. zal, imp. zoude, zou,
OHG. solan, scolan, pres. scal, sol. imp. scolta, solta, G.
sollen, pres. soll, imp. sollte, Icel. skulu, pres. skal,
imp. skyldi, SW. skola, pres. skall, imp. skulle, Dan.
skulle, pres. skal, imp. skulde, Goth. skulan, pres. skal,
imp. skulda, and to AS. scyld guilt, G. schuld guilt, fault,
debt, and perhaps to L. scelus crime.]

Note: [Shall is defective, having no infinitive, imperative,
or participle.]
1. To owe; to be under obligation for. [Obs.] "By the faith I
shall to God" --Court of Love.
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2. To be obliged; must. [Obs.] "Me athinketh [I am sorry]
that I shall rehearse it her." --Chaucer.
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3. As an auxiliary, shall indicates a duty or necessity whose
obligation is derived from the person speaking; as, you
shall go; he shall go; that is, I order or promise your
going. It thus ordinarily expresses, in the second and
third persons, a command, a threat, or a promise. If the
auxillary be emphasized, the command is made more
imperative, the promise or that more positive and sure. It
is also employed in the language of prophecy; as, "the day
shall come when . . ., " since a promise or threat and an
authoritative prophecy nearly coincide in significance. In
shall with the first person, the necessity of the action
is sometimes implied as residing elsewhere than in the
speaker; as, I shall suffer; we shall see; and there is
always a less distinct and positive assertion of his
volition than is indicated by will. "I shall go" implies
nearly a simple futurity; more exactly, a foretelling or
an expectation of my going, in which, naturally enough, a
certain degree of plan or intention may be included;
emphasize the shall, and the event is described as certain
to occur, and the expression approximates in meaning to
our emphatic "I will go." In a question, the relation of
speaker and source of obligation is of course transferred
to the person addressed; as, "Shall you go?" (answer, "I
shall go"); "Shall he go?" i. e., "Do you require or
promise his going?" (answer, "He shall go".) The same
relation is transferred to either second or third person
in such phrases as "You say, or think, you shall go;" "He
says, or thinks, he shall go." After a conditional
conjunction (as if, whether) shall is used in all persons
to express futurity simply; as, if I, you, or he shall say
they are right. Should is everywhere used in the same
connection and the same senses as shall, as its imperfect.
It also expresses duty or moral obligation; as, he should
do it whether he will or not. In the early English, and
hence in our English Bible, shall is the auxiliary mainly
used, in all the persons, to express simple futurity. (Cf.
{Will}, v. t.) Shall may be used elliptically; thus, with
an adverb or other word expressive of motion go may be
omitted. "He to England shall along with you." --Shak.
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Note: Shall and will are often confounded by inaccurate
speakers and writers. Say: I shall be glad to see you.
Shall I do this? Shall I help you? (not Will I do
this?) See {Will}.
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Should \Should\ (sh[oo^]d), imp. of {Shall}. [OE. sholde,
shulde, scholde, schulde, AS. scolde, sceolde. See {Shall}.]
Used as an auxiliary verb, to express a conditional or
contingent act or state, or as a supposition of an actual
fact; also, to express moral obligation (see {Shall}); e. g.:
they should have come last week; if I should go; I should
think you could go. "You have done that you should be sorry
for." --Shak.
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Syn: See {Ought}.
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