WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
modal auxiliary, 
  1. Grammarany of the group of English auxiliary verbs, including can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, and must, that are used with the base form of another verb to express distinctions of mood.
  • 1930–35

'modal auxiliary' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
M, m - mod - modal

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