module

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See also: Module and modulé

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

Borrowed from French module, from Latin modulus (a small measure, a measure, mode, meter), diminutive of modus (measure) (whence mode). Doublet of modulus and mold.

Pronunciation

Noun

module (plural modules)

  1. A self-contained component of a system, often interchangeable, which has a well-defined interface to the other components.
    • 2025 February 11, Joshua Stylman, “How to Forge the Spectator Class”, in Brownstone Journal:
      A friend who’s spent decades as an auto mechanic recently confided that he’s grateful to be nearing retirement. “These Teslas,” he told me, “they’re not even cars anymore – they’re computers on wheels. When something goes wrong, you don’t fix it; you just replace entire modules.” What was once a craft that any dedicated person could learn has become an exercise in supervised dependency.
  2. (architecture) A standard unit of measure used for determining the proportions of a building.
  3. (programming) A section of a program; a subroutine or group of subroutines.
    • 2001, Phil Jones, Visual Basic: A Complete Course, page 254:
      Class modules are similar to form modules except they do not have a visible interface (GUI).
    • 2013, Helmut Reimer, Norbert Pohlmann, Wolfgang Schneider, ISSE 2013 Securing Electronic Business Processes, page 244:
      When there is more than one protected module in memory, the rules for accessing the code and data sections of a given module treat all the other modules as if they were unprotected memory.
  4. A unit of education covering a single topic.
    Which modules are you studying next year?
  5. A pre-prepared adventure scenario with related materials for a role-playing game.
    • 2011, Michael J. Tresca, The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games, page 81:
      Dragonborn first appeared in the Dragons of Despair module (1984) for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as “dragonmen.”
  6. (algebra, ring theory) An abelian group equipped with the operation of multiplication by an element of a ring (or another of certain algebraic objects), representing a generalisation of the concept of vector space with scalar multiplication.
    Meronym: element
    • 1974, Thomas W. Hungerford, Algebra, Springer, page 168:
      Modules over a ring are a generalization of abelian groups (which are modules over ).
    • 2004, Robert R. Colby, Kent R. Fuller, Equivalence and Duality for Module Categories (with Tilting and Cotilting for Rings), Cambridge University Press, page vii:
      Approximately forty-five years ago K. Morita presented the first major results on equivalences and dualities between categories of modules over a pair of rings.
    • 2012, A. A. Kirillov, Elements of the Theory of Representations, Springer, page 29:
      One defines in like manner right K-modules and two-sided K-modules. If K is commutative, then every left K-module is automatically equipped with the structure of right and a two-sided K-module.
  7. (fractal geometry, mathematics) A fractal element.
  8. (music, computing) A file containing a music sequence that can be played in a tracker (also called mod or music module).
  9. (hydraulics) A contrivance for regulating the supply of water from an irrigation channel.
  10. (astronautics) An independent self-contained unit of a spacecraft.

Usage notes

  • (abelian group equipped with multiplication by an element of a ring):

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Further reading

Dutch

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from French module. Doublet of modulus and mal.

Pronunciation

Noun

module m (plural modulen or modules)

  1. module

Descendants

  • Indonesian: modul

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin modulus. Doublet of moule.

Pronunciation

Noun

module m (plural modules)

  1. module

Derived terms

Descendants

Further reading

Galician

Verb

module

  1. inflection of modular:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Latin

Noun

module

  1. vocative singular of modulus

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɔˈdu.lɛ/
  • Rhymes: -ulɛ
  • Syllabification: mo‧du‧le

Noun

module

  1. locative/vocative singular of moduł

Portuguese

Verb

module

  1. inflection of modular:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /moˈdu.le/
  • Rhymes: -ule
  • Hyphenation: mo‧du‧le

Noun

module n pl

  1. indefinite plural of modul (module)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmo.du.le/
  • Rhymes: -odule
  • Hyphenation: mo‧du‧le

Noun

module n

  1. vocative singular of mod (mode)

Spanish

Verb

module

  1. inflection of modular:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative