modal

[ mohd-l ]

/ ˈmoʊd l /

adjective

of or relating to mode, manner, or form.

Music.

pertaining to mode, as distinguished from key.
based on a scale other than major or minor.

Also single modal. Transportation. pertaining to or suitable for transportation involving only one form of a carrier, as truck, rail, or ship.Compare bimodal(def 3), intermodal.

Grammar. noting or pertaining to mood.

Philosophy. pertaining to a mode of a thing, as distinguished from one of its basic attributes or from its substance or matter.

Logic. exhibiting or expressing some phase of modality.

noun

modal auxiliary.

Nearby words

mod cons, mod., mod. praesc., modacrylic, modacrylic fiber, modal, modal auxiliary, modal logic, modality, modally, modding

Origin of modal

From the Medieval Latin word modālis, dating back to 1560–70. See mode¹, -al¹

Related forms

mod·al·ly, adverbnon·mod·al, adjectivenon·mod·al·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for modal

Again, modal propositions cannot be reduced to the common form by joining the modality to the predicate, and turning, e.g.
Analysis of Mr. Mill's System of Logic|William Stebbing
I note below such instances of modal tunes as occur in this collection.
Jamaican Song and Story|Walter Jekyll
"More than modal theta," said the technician, writing something in code on his employment blank.
The Dictator|Milton Lesser
It cannot be too strongly insisted that the expression of modal music is a permanent artistic fact.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 1|Various

In like manner tense particles cannot be separated from adverbial and modal particles.
On the Evolution of Language|John Wesley Powell

British Dictionary definitions for modal

modal

/ (ˈməʊdəl) /

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of mode or manner

grammar (of a verb form or auxiliary verb) expressing a distinction of mood, such as that between possibility and actuality. The modal auxiliaries in English include can, could, may, must, need, ought, shall, should, will, and would

philosophy logic

qualifying or expressing a qualification of the truth of some statement, for example, as necessary or contingent
relating to analogous qualifications such as that of rules as obligatory or permissive

metaphysics of or relating to the form of a thing as opposed to its attributes, substance, etc

music of or relating to a mode

of or relating to a statistical mode

Derived Forms

modally, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012