modal
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English
Etymology
From Middle French modal, from Medieval Latin modālis (“pertaining to a mode”), from Latin modus (“mode”); equivalent to mode + -al. Compare to French, Spanish, and Portuguese modal and Italian modale.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈməʊd.əl/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmoʊd.əl/
- Rhymes: -əʊdəl
Adjective
modal (comparative more modal, superlative most modal)
- Of, or relating to a mode or modus.
- (grammar) Of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause.
- (music) 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.
- (logic) Of, or relating to the modality between propositions.
- (statistics) Relating to the statistical mode.
- (computing) Having separate modes in which user input has different effects.
- Antonym: modeless
- (graphical user interface) Requiring immediate user interaction and thus presented so that it cannot be closed or interacted behind until a decision is made.
- a. 2011, “Dialog Windows”, in Qt Widgets Documentation, archived from the original on February 7, 2020:
- Dialogs can be modal, in which case the user is required to provide necessary information before work in the main window can continue, or modeless. Modeless dialogs do not prevent the user from interacting with any of the other windows in the application.
- a modal dialog; a modal window
- Antonym: modeless
- (metaphysics) Relating to the form of a thing rather to any of its attributes.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from modal (adjective)
Related terms
Terms related to modal
Translations
of or relating to a mode or modus
of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause
music: of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided
logic: of or relating to the modality between prepositions
|
requiring immediate computer user interaction
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Noun
modal (plural modals)
- (logic) A modal proposition.
- (linguistics) A modal form, notably a modal auxiliary.
- (grammar) A modal verb.
- 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational Grammar: A First Course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 61:
- Using the same type of distributional criterion, we could argue that only a Verb (in its base form) can occur in the position marked — in (23) below to complete the sentence:
(23) They/it can —
[...]
Conversely, the only type of word which could be used to begin a three-word sentence such as (25) below:
(25) — I be frank?
is a Modal: cf. [...]
- (graphical user interface) A modal window, one that cannot be closed until a decision is made.
- 1996, OOPSLA '96: Conference on Object-Oriented Programming Systems, Languages, and Applications, volume 31, numbers 10-12:
- Modal screen elements are subtrees which, when activated, disable all elements external to them. Examples of modals are yes-no message boxes and the application itself.
Derived terms
Translations
modal proposition
|
modal verb — see modal verb
See also
Further reading
- “modal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “modal”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
modal m or f (masculine and feminine plural modals)
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “modal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
French
Etymology
From Medieval Latin modalis, from Latin modus 'mode'.
Pronunciation
Adjective
modal (feminine modale, masculine plural modaux, feminine plural modales)
Derived terms
Noun
modal m (plural modaux)
Further reading
- “modal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
German
Pronunciation
Adjective
modal (strong nominative masculine singular modaler, not comparable)
Declension
Positive forms of modal (uncomparable)
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
| predicative | er ist modal | sie ist modal | es ist modal | sie sind modal | |
| strong declension (without article) |
nominative | modaler | modale | modales | modale |
| genitive | modalen | modaler | modalen | modaler | |
| dative | modalem | modaler | modalem | modalen | |
| accusative | modalen | modale | modales | modale | |
| weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der modale | die modale | das modale | die modalen |
| genitive | des modalen | der modalen | des modalen | der modalen | |
| dative | dem modalen | der modalen | dem modalen | den modalen | |
| accusative | den modalen | die modale | das modale | die modalen | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein modaler | eine modale | ein modales | (keine) modalen |
| genitive | eines modalen | einer modalen | eines modalen | (keiner) modalen | |
| dative | einem modalen | einer modalen | einem modalen | (keinen) modalen | |
| accusative | einen modalen | eine modale | ein modales | (keine) modalen | |
Indonesian
Etymology
From Malay modal, from Tamil முதல் (mutal, “principal, fund, capital, money yielding interest”).
Pronunciation
Noun
modal (first-person possessive modalku, second-person possessive modalmu, third-person possessive modalnya)
- capital,
- money and wealth. The means to acquire goods and services, especially in a non-barter system.
- (figuratively) goods available for use as a factor of production, such as steam shovels (equipment) and office buildings (structures).
Derived terms
derived terms
compounds
References
- ^ Comprehensive Indonesian-English Dictionary, Ohio University Press, 2010, page 639
Further reading
- “modal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
Portuguese
Pronunciation
Adjective
modal m or f (plural modais, not comparable)
- modal (all senses)
Derived terms
Noun
modal m (plural modais)
Romanian
Etymology
Adjective
modal m or n (feminine singular modală, masculine plural modali, feminine and neuter plural modale)
Declension
Declension of modal
Spanish
Pronunciation
Adjective
modal m or f (masculine and feminine plural modales)
Related terms
Further reading
- “modal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish
Adjective
modal (not comparable)
Declension
| Inflection of modal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
| Common singular | modal | — | — |
| Neuter singular | modalt | — | — |
| Plural | modala | — | — |
| Masculine plural3 | modale | — | — |
| Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Masculine singular1 | modale | — | — |
| All | modala | — | — |
| 1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic | |||
Derived terms
- modalt hjälpverb (“modal verb, modal auxiliary”)