adj
Meaning 1
Of, or relating to a mode or modus.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
modal
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈməʊdəl/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Canada, General-American: /ˈmoʊdəl/
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Texas: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian: /ˈməʉdəl/
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rhymes with -əʊdəl
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CMU ARPABET: M OW1 D AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided, associated with emotional moods in Ancient — and in medieval ecclesiastical — music.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided, associated with emotional moods in Ancient — and in medieval ecclesiastical — music.
In a mode which is not major or minor scale, the standard modes used in the Western musical tradition.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 5
Of, or relating to the modality between propositions.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, logic, mathematics, philosophy, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 6
Relating to the statistical mode.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: mathematics, sciences, statistics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 7
Having separate modes in which user input has different effects.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: modeless
adj
Meaning 8
Requiring immediate user interaction and thus presented so that it cannot be closed or interacted behind until a decision is made.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: computing, engineering, graphical-user-interface, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences
Examples
- a modal dialog; a modal window
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: modeless
adj
Meaning 9
Relating to the form of a thing rather to any of its attributes.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: metaphysics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
A modal (etymology 1, adjective sense 4) proposition.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, logic, mathematics, philosophy, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
A modal (etymology 1, adjective sense 2) form, notably a modal auxiliary.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 12
A modal verb.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 13
A modal (etymology 1, adjective sense 7) window, one that cannot be closed until a decision is made.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: computing, engineering, graphical-user-interface, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 14
A semi-synthetic fabric, a very soft kind of rayon textile made from beech tree pulp and processed with chemicals.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Qualifier: fabric
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 15
relating to or expressing the mood of a verb
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- modal auxiliary
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 16
of or relating to a musical mode; especially written in an ecclesiastical mode
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 17
an auxiliary verb (such as `can' or `will') that is used to express modality
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: modal auxiliary verb, modal auxiliary, modal verb
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: auxiliary verb
History
Etymology
From Middle French modal, from Medieval Latin modālis (“pertaining to a mode”), from Latin modus (“mode”). Compare to French, Spanish, and Portuguese modal and Italian modale. By surface analysis, mod(e) + -al.
A genericized trademark of Lenzing AG.
Across languages
Translations
49 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Dutch: modaal — of or relating to a mode or modus
- Dutch: modus- — of or relating to a mode or modus
- Finnish: modaalinen — of or relating to a mode or modus
- German: modal — of or relating to a mode or modus
- Polish: modalny — of or relating to a mode or modus
- Serbo-Croatian: načinski — of or relating to a mode or modus
- Serbo-Croatian: načinovni — of or relating to a mode or modus
- Turkish: kipsel — of or relating to a mode or modus
- Dutch: modaal — of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause
- Finnish: modaalinen — of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause
- French: modal — of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause
- Galician: modal — of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause
- German: modal — of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause
- Hungarian: modális — of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause
- Hungarian: módbeli — of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause
- Polish: modalny — of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause
- Russian: мода́льный (modálʹnyj) — of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause
- Dutch: modaal — music: of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided
- Dutch: modus- — music: of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided
- Finnish: modaalinen — music: of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided
- Galician: modal — music: of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided
- Hungarian: modális — music: of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided
- Polish: modalny — music: of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided
- Russian: ла́довый (ládovyj) — music: of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided
- Dutch: modaal — logic: of or relating to the modality between prepositions
- Finnish: modaalinen — logic: of or relating to the modality between prepositions
- Galician: modal — logic: of or relating to the modality between prepositions
- Hungarian: modális — logic: of or relating to the modality between prepositions
- Polish: modalny — logic: of or relating to the modality between prepositions
- Russian: мода́льный (modálʹnyj) — logic: of or relating to the modality between prepositions
- Tagalog: palasakin — logic: of or relating to the modality between prepositions
- Dutch: modaal — relating to the statistical mode
- Dutch: modus- — relating to the statistical mode
- Polish: modalny — relating to the statistical mode
- Dutch: modaal — requiring immediate computer user interaction
- Finnish: modaalinen — requiring immediate computer user interaction
- Galician: modal — requiring immediate computer user interaction
- German: modal — requiring immediate computer user interaction
- Hungarian: modális — requiring immediate computer user interaction
- Polish: modalny — requiring immediate computer user interaction
- Russian: мода́льный (modálʹnyj) — requiring immediate computer user interaction
- Spanish: modal — requiring immediate computer user interaction
- Dutch: modale propositie — modal proposition
- Galician: proposición modal — modal proposition
- Polish: zdanie modalne — modal proposition
- Dutch: modale vorm — modal form, notably a modal auxiliary
- Galician: modal — modal form, notably a modal auxiliary
- Polish: czasownik modalny — modal form, notably a modal auxiliary
- Turkish: kip — modal form, notably a modal auxiliary
Real reading context