“Shouldest” is a form of
should
/ʃəd/ verb, noun
Also a form of shall
Forms shoulds shoulding shoulded shou'd shoulde
- verb Used to issue an instruction (traditionally seen as carrying less force of authority than alternatives such as 'shall' or 'must'). “You should never drink and drive.”
- verb Used to give advice or opinion that an action is, or would have been, beneficial or desirable. “You should go and see that film. I think you'll enjoy it.”
- verb (informal) With verbs such as 'see' or 'hear', usually in the second person, used to point out something remarkable in either a good or bad way.
- verb In questions, asks what is correct, proper, desirable, etc. “What do you think? What should I do?”
- verb Indicates that something is expected to have happened or to be the case now. “They should have finished by now; I'll call them to check.”
- verb Will be likely to (become or do something); indicates a degree of possibility or probability that the stated thing will happen or be true in the future. “They should have it finished by Friday.”
- verb (subjunctive) Used to form a variant of the present subjunctive, expressing a state or action that is hypothetical, potential, mandated, etc. “If I should be late, I should hope that you are prepared to go on without me.”
- verb (formal or literary) Used to express a conditional outcome. “If I had not been so tired, I should have laughed heartily.”
- verb To suggest (that someone ought to do something, or that something ought to be the case) by, or as if by, using the word should.
- noun Something that ought to be the case as opposed to already being the case.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English scholde, from Old English sċolde, first and third person preterite form of sċulan (“should,” “have to,” “to owe”), the ancestor of English shall. By surface analysis, shall + -ed. Cognate with German sollte, Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (skulda), Swedish skulle. Related to Middle English shild and shildy.
The loss of /l/ in this word is probably due to weak stress, as in would and could (though in the latter, the /l/ was due to the analogy of the former two).
Webster’s 1913
- verb 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.
Etymology [OE. sholde, shulde, scholde, schulde, AS. scolde, sceolde. See Shall.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “should”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details