Adjacent Words

Mode definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MODE, n. [L. modus, metior. The primary sense of mode is measure hence form. Measure is from extending, the extent, hence a limit, and hence the derivative sense of restraining. See Meet and Measure.]
1. Manner of existing or being; manner; method; form; fashion; custom; way; as the mode of speaking; the mode of dressing; modes of receiving or entertaining company.
The duty of itself being resolved on, the mode of doing it may be easily found.
It is applicable to particular acts, or to a series of acts, or to the common usage of a city of nation. One man has a particular mode of walking; another has a singular mode of dressing his hair. We find it necessary to conform in some measure to the usual modes of dress.
2. Gradation; degree.
What modes of sight between each wide extreme!
3. State; quality.
4. In metaphysics, the dependence or affection of a substance. Such complex ideas as contain not in them the supposition of subsisting by themselves, but are considered as dependencies or affections of substances, Locke calls modes. Of these he makes two kinds; simple modes, which are only variations or different combinations of the same idea, as a dozen, which consists of so many units added together; and mixed modes, which are compounded of simple ideas of several kinds, as beauty, which is compounded of color and figure.
A mode is that which cannot subsist in and of itself, but is esteemed as belonging to and subsisting by the help of some substance, which for that reason is called its subject.
5. In music, a regular disposition of the air and accompaniments relative to certain principal sounds, on which a piece of music is formed, and which are called the essential sounds of the mode.
6. In grammar, a particular manner of conjugating verbs to express manner of action or being, as affirmation, command, condition and the like; usually and not very properly written mood. Mood is a word of different signification. [See Mood.]
7. A kind of silk.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: how something is done or how it happens; "her dignified manner"; "his rapid manner of talking"; "their nomadic mode of existence"; "in the characteristic New York style"; "a lonely way of life"; "in an abrasive fashion" [syn: manner, mode, style, way, fashion]
2: a particular functioning condition or arrangement; "switched from keyboard to voice mode"
3: a classification of propositions on the basis of whether they claim necessity or possibility or impossibility [syn: modality, mode]
4: verb inflections that express how the action or state is conceived by the speaker [syn: mood, mode, modality]
5: any of various fixed orders of the various diatonic notes within an octave [syn: mode, musical mode]
6: the most frequent value of a random variable [syn: mode, modal value]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English moede, from Latin modus measure, manner, musical mode — more at mete Date: 14th century 1. a. an arrangement of the eight diatonic notes or tones of an octave according to one of several fixed schemes of their intervals b. a rhythmical scheme (as in 13th and 14th century music) 2. mood II,2 3. [Late Latin modus, from Latin] a. mood II,1 b. the modal form of the assertion or denial of a logical proposition 4. a. a particular form or variety of something <flying and other modes of transport> b. a form or manner of expression ; style 5. a possible, customary, or preferred way of doing something <explained in the usual solemn mode> 6. a. a manifestation, form, or arrangement of being; specifically a particular form or manifestation of an underlying substance b. a particular functioning arrangement or condition ; status <a spacecraft in reentry mode> <a computer operating in parallel mode> 7. a. the most frequent value of a set of data b. a value of a random variable for which a function of probabilities defined on it achieves a relative maximum 8. any of various stationary vibration patterns of which an elastic body or oscillatory system is capable <the vibration mode of an airplane propeller blade> <the vibrational modes of a molecule> Synonyms: see method II. noun Etymology: French, from Latin modus Date: circa 1645 a prevailing fashion or style (as of dress or behavior) Synonyms: see fashion

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a way or manner in which a thing is done; a method of procedure. 2 a prevailing fashion or custom. 3 Computing a way of operating or using a system (print mode). 4 Statistics the value that occurs most frequently in a given set of data. 5 Mus. a each of the scale systems that result when the white notes of the piano are played consecutively over an octave (Lydian mode). b each of the two main modern scale systems, the major and minor (minor mode). 6 Logic a the character of a modal proposition. b = MOOD(2). 7 Physics any of the distinct kinds or patterns of vibration of an oscillating system. 8 US Gram. = MOOD(2). Etymology: F mode and L modus measure

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ionic I*on"ic, a. [L. Ionicus, Gr. ?, fr. ? Ionia.] 1. Of or pertaining to Ionia or the Ionians. 2. (Arch.) Pertaining to the Ionic order of architecture, one of the three orders invented by the Greeks, and one of the five recognized by the Italian writers of the sixteenth century. Its distinguishing feature is a capital with spiral volutes. See Illust. of Capital. Ionic dialect (Gr. Gram.), a dialect of the Greek language, used in Ionia. The Homeric poems are written in what is designated old Ionic, as distinguished from new Ionic, or Attic, the dialect of all cultivated Greeks in the period of Athenian prosperity and glory. Ionic foot. (Pros.) See Ionic, n., 1. Ionic, or Ionian, mode (Mus.), an ancient mode, supposed to correspond with the modern major scale of C. Ionic sect, a sect of philosophers founded by Thales of Miletus, in Ionia. Their distinguishing tenet was, that water is the original principle of all things. Ionic type, a kind of heavy-faced type (as that of the following line). Note: This is Nonpareil Ionic.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mode Mode, n. [L. modus a measure, due or proper measure, bound, manner, form; akin to E. mete: cf. F. mode. See Mete, and cf. Commodious, Mood in grammar, Modus.] 1. Manner of doing or being; method; form; fashion; custom; way; style; as, the mode of speaking; the mode of dressing. The duty of itself being resolved on, the mode of doing it may easily be found. --Jer. Taylor. A table richly spread in regal mode. --Milton. 2. Prevailing popular custom; fashion, especially in the phrase the mode. The easy, apathetic graces of a man of the mode. --Macaulay. 3. Variety; gradation; degree. --Pope. 4. (Metaph.) Any combination of qualities or relations, considered apart from the substance to which they belong, and treated as entities; more generally, condition, or state of being; manner or form of arrangement or manifestation; form, as opposed to matter. Modes I call such complex ideas, which, however compounded, contain not in them the supposition of subsisting by themselves, but are considered as dependencies on, or affections of, substances. --Locke. 5. (Logic) The form in which the proposition connects the predicate and subject, whether by simple, contingent, or necessary assertion; the form of the syllogism, as determined by the quantity and quality of the constituent proposition; mood. 6. (Gram.) Same as Mood. 7. (Mus.) The scale as affected by the various positions in it of the minor intervals; as, the Dorian mode, the Ionic mode, etc., of ancient Greek music. Note: In modern music, only the major and the minor mode, of whatever key, are recognized. 8. A kind of silk. See Alamode, n. Syn: Method; manner. See Method.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Potential Po*ten"tial, a. [Cf. F. potentiel. See Potency.] 1. Being potent; endowed with energy adequate to a result; efficacious; influential. [Obs.] ``And hath in his effect a voice potential.'' --Shak. 2. Existing in possibility, not in actuality. ``A potential hero.'' --Carlyle. Potential existence means merely that the thing may be at ome time; actual existence, that it now is. --Sir W. Hamilton. Potential cautery. See under Cautery. Potential energy. (Mech.) See the Note under Energy. Potential mood, or mode (Gram.), that form of the verb which is used to express possibility, liberty, power, will, obligation, or necessity, by the use of may, can, must, might, could, would, or should; as, I may go; he can write.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(modes) 1. A mode of life or behaviour is a particular way of living or behaving. (FORMAL) He switched automatically into interview mode. N-COUNT: usu N of n 2. A mode is a particular style in art, literature, or dress. ...a slightly more elegant and formal mode of dress... N-COUNT: usu with supp 3. On some cameras or electronic devices, the different modes available are the different programs or settings that you can choose when you use them. ...when the camera is in manual mode. N-COUNT: usu supp N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Way (viewed practically), method, manner, style, fashion. 2. Fashion, custom, prevailing style. 3. Modification, quality, affection, accident, degree, gradation, variety.

Moby Thesaurus

Aeolian mode, Aristotelian sorites, Dorian mode, Goclenian sorites, Greek modes, Hindu mode, Indian mode, Locrian mode, Lydian mode, MO, Phrygian mode, Platonic form, Platonic idea, SOP, aesthetic form, affectation, algorithm, approach, archetype, art form, attack, authentic mode, bearings, bon ton, build, case, cast, categorical syllogism, chic, circumstance, command of language, complexion, condition, conditional, configuration, conformation, convention, course, craze, cry, custom, cut, dilemma, enthymeme, estate, exaggeration, expression of ideas, fad, fashion, feeling for words, figuration, figure, fix, footing, form, form of speech, format, formation, frame, furore, genre, grace of expression, grandiloquence, guise, haute couture, high fashion, hypoaeolian mode, hypodorian mode, hypoionian mode, hypolocrian mode, hypolydian mode, hypomixolydian mode, hypophrygian mode, imperative, impression, indicative, inflation, inner form, jam, jussive, layout, line, line of action, lines, literary style, location, look, lot, major mode, make, makeup, manner, manner of speaking, manner of working, mannerism, matrix, means, method, methodology, minor mode, mixolydian mode, modality, mode of expression, mode of operation, mode of procedure, model, modus, modus operandi, modus tollens, mold, mood, obligative, octave species, optative, order, paralogism, pass, pattern, peculiarity, permissive, personal style, pickle, place, plagal mode, plight, position, posture, potential, practice, predicament, prevailing taste, procedure, proceeding, process, proper thing, prosyllogism, prototype, pseudosyllogism, raga, rage, rank, rhetoric, routine, rule, rule of deduction, sense of language, set, set-up, shape, significant form, situation, sorites, spot, stamp, standard operating procedure, standing, state, station, status, strain, stream of fashion, structure, style, stylistic analysis, stylistics, subjunctive, swim, syllogism, system, tack, technique, tenor, the drill, the grand style, the how, the plain style, the sublime, the way of, tone, trend, trick, turn, type, vein, vogue, way, wise