modification

Borrowed from Middle French modification, from Latin modificātiō (“a measuring”), from modificāre (“to limit, control, modify”); see modify.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɑdɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɒdɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mod‧i‧fi‧ca‧tion
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

modification (countable and uncountable, plural modifications)

1. (obsolete, philosophy) The form of existence belonging to a particular object, entity etc.; a mode of being. [17th–19th c.]
   • 1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC:

     Pleasure is the business of woman's life, according to the present modification of society […]

2. (linguistics) the change undergone by a word when used in a construction (for instance am => 'm in I'm) [from 17th c.]
3. The result of modifying something; a new or changed form. [from 17th c.]
4. The act of making a change to something while keeping its essential character intact; an alteration or adjustment. [from 18th c.]

   behavior modification officer

   Jim's modification to the radio's tuning resulted in clearer sound.

5. (biology) A change to an organism as a result of its environment that is not transmissable to offspring. [from 19th c.]

   Due to his sunbathing, Jim's body experienced modifications: he got a tan.

6. (linguistics) a change to a word when it is borrowed by another language

   The Chinese word "kòu tóu" had a modification made to become the English "kowtow".

• modify
• modifier

• “modification”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “modification”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• domification

From Latin modificātiōnem.

• IPA^(key): /mɔ.di.fi.ka.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

modification f (plural modifications)

1. modification

   Synonyms: altération, transformation

• modifiable
• modificateur
• modifier
• modifieur

• “modification”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.