modern

English

Etymology

From Middle French moderne, from Late Latin modernus; from Latin modo (“just now”), originally ablative of modus (“measure”); hence, by measure, "just now". See also mode.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒd(ə)n/
• (General American) enPR: mŏdʹərn, IPA^(key): /ˈmɑdɚn/
• Rhymes: -ɒdə(ɹ)n
• Hyphenation: mod‧ern

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

modern (comparative moderner or more modern, superlative modernest or most modern)

1. Pertaining to a current or recent time and style; not ancient.

   Our online interactive game is a modern approach to teaching about gum disease.  Although it was built in the 1600s, the building still has a very modern look.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., , →OCLC:

     But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […].

   • 1930 May 31, “The "Overhead Door" for Garage-Factory-Warehouse”, in The Saturday Evening Post‎, volume 202, number 48, page 110:

     The "Overhead Door" is the garage door that can be opened or closed at a touch every day in the year—regardless of the weather. It is the garage door that opens UP Completely Out of the Way. In short, it is the modern door for the modern garage—in step with the times.

   • 2018 June 14, Timothy Snyder, “How Did the Nazis Gain Power in Germany?”, in The New York Times:

     In fact, he had created the conditions for the great horror of modern times.

   • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

     The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

2. (history) Pertaining to the modern period (c.1800 to contemporary times), particularly in academic historiography.

Synonyms

• (pertaining to current or recent time): contemporary, current; see also Thesaurus:present

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "pertaining to current or recent time"): ancient, dated, former, historical, old, old-fashioned; see also Thesaurus:past
• (antonym(s) of "pertaining to the modern period"): premodern

Derived terms

Related terms

• moderne
• Modernisme
• modernus

Translations

Noun

modern (plural moderns)

1. Someone who lives in modern times.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A Millar, , →OCLC:

     The only supernatural agents which can in any manner be allowed to us moderns, are ghosts; but of these I would advise an author to be extremely sparing.

   • 1779, Edward Capell, John Collins, Notes and various readings to Shakespeare:

     What the moderns could mean by their suppression of the final couplet's repeatings, cannot be conceiv'd […]

   • 1930, G. K. Chesterton, The Resurrection of Rome:

     They at least had the immense and mighty imagination of which I speak; they could unthink the past. They could uncreate the Fall. With a reverence which moderns might think impudence, they could uncreate the Creation.

   • 1956, John Albert Wilson, The Culture of Ancient Egypt, page 144:

     Even though we moderns can never crawl inside the skin of the ancient and think and feel as he did […] we must as historians make the attempt.

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 181:

     Yeats understood these ancient mysteries better than any modern.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “modern”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “modern”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• modern in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "modern" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 208.
• “modern”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “modern”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “modern”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Morden, Redmon, nerdom, normed, rodmen

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

modern (feminine moderna, masculine plural moderns, feminine plural modernes)

1. modern

Derived terms

Further reading

• “modern” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “modern”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “modern” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “modern” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French moderne, from Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moːˈdɛrn/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mo‧dern
• Rhymes: -ɛrn

Adjective

modern (comparative moderner, superlative modernst)

1. modern
2. (historical, Protestantism) modernist

   Synonym: modernistisch

Inflection

Derived terms

• hypermodern
• moderniseren
• modernisme, modernist, moderniste
• moderniteit
• postmodern, postmodernisme, postmodernist, postmoderniste

Descendants

• → Indonesian: modern
• → Papiamentu: modern (dated)

German

Etymology 1

From Moder (“moldiness”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoːdɐn/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛʁn

Verb

modern (weak, third-person singular present modert, past tense moderte, past participle gemodert, auxiliary haben)

1. to rot, to molder

Conjugation

Etymology 2

From French moderne, from Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈdɛʁn/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

modern (strong nominative masculine singular moderner, comparative moderner, superlative am modernsten)

1. modern
2. state-of-the-art

Declension

Derived terms

• Modernismus

Further reading

• “modern (Verb)” in Duden online
• “modern (Adjektiv)” in Duden online
• “modern” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hungarian

Etymology

From English modern and German modern, from French moderne, from Medieval Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mo‧dern
• Rhymes: -ɛrn

Adjective

modern (comparative modernebb, superlative legmodernebb)

1. modern

   Synonym: korszerű

Declension

References

Further reading

• modern in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈtɛn/

Adjective

modern

1. modern

Declension

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

modern

Wikipedia ^id

Alternative forms

• moden (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore)
• moderen (nonstandard Indonesian)

Etymology

From Dutch modern, from Middle French moderne, from Latin modernus, from modo (“just now”), originally ablative of modus (“measure”); hence, by measure, "just now". Doublet of mode, model, modul, and modus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: mo‧dèrn

Adjective

modèrn

1. modern.

   Synonyms: terbaru, mutakhir

Noun

modèrn (first-person possessive modernku, second-person possessive modernmu, third-person possessive modernnya)

1. modern.

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “modern” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French moderne.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

modern m or n (feminine singular modernă, masculine plural moderni, feminine and neuter plural moderne)

1. modern

Declension

Swedish

Etymology 1

From French moderne, from Late Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /muˈdɛrn/, /moˈdɛrn/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

modern (comparative modernare, superlative modernast)

1. modern
2. in fashion

Declension

Antonyms

• omodern

Related terms

• modernisera
• modernism
• modernistisk

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmuːdɛrn/

Noun

modern

1. definite singular of moder
2. definite singular of mor

Anagrams

• morden

Turkish

Etymology

From French moderne

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈdæɾn/

Adjective

modern

1. modern

Declension