| / English Dictionary |
MODAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An auxiliary verb (such as 'can' or 'will') that is used to express modality
Synonyms:
modal; modal auxiliary; modal auxiliary verb; modal verb
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("modal" is a kind of...):
auxiliary verb (a verb that combines with another verb in a verb phrase to help form tense, mood, voice, or condition of the verb it combines with)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Relating to or constituting the most frequent value in a distribution
Example:
the modal age at which American novelists reach their peak is 30
Synonyms:
average; modal
Classified under:
Similar:
normal (conforming with or constituting a norm or standard or level or type or social norm; not abnormal)
Domain category:
statistics (a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters)
Derivation:
mode (the most frequent value of a random variable)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Relating to or expressing the mood of a verb
Example:
modal auxiliary
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
mode (verb inflections that express how the action or state is conceived by the speaker)
Derivation:
modality; mode (verb inflections that express how the action or state is conceived by the speaker)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Of or relating to a musical mode; especially written in an ecclesiastical mode
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
mode (any of various fixed orders of the various diatonic notes within an octave)
Derivation:
mode (any of various fixed orders of the various diatonic notes within an octave)
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