modal

¹ American  

[mohd-l] / ˈmoʊd l /

adjective

1. of or relating to mode, manner, or form.

2. Music.

   1. relating to mode, as distinguished from key.

   2. based on a scale other than major or minor.

3. Transportation. Also single modal. relating to or suitable for transportation involving only one form of a carrier, such as truck, rail, or ship.

4. Grammar. being or relating to mood.

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

6. Statistics. relating to the mode, the value that occurs most frequently in a particular data set, population, etc.

7. Logic. exhibiting or expressing some phase of modality.

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noun

1. Grammar. modal auxiliary.

modal ² American  

[moh-dol, mohd-l] / moʊˈdɒl, ˈmoʊd l /

noun

1. a type of rayon made from the pulp of hardwood trees, especially beech.

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modal British  

/ ˈməʊdəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of mode or manner

2. 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

3. philosophy logic

   1. qualifying or expressing a qualification of the truth of some statement, for example, as necessary or contingent

   2. relating to analogous qualifications such as that of rules as obligatory or permissive

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

5. music of or relating to a mode

6. of or relating to a statistical mode

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Other Word Forms

• modally adverb
• nonmodal adjective
• nonmodally adverb

Etymology

Origin of modal¹

First recorded in 1560–70; from Medieval Latin modālis; equivalent to mode ¹ + -al ¹

Origin of modal²

First recorded in 1975–80; from Serbo-Croatian; equivalent to mod(ulus) ( def. ) + -al ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Hunt up for market share wins in its modal business.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

“These cross modal correspondences are shared across people. Is it across everybody? Is it universal? Sometimes, perhaps yes,” Spence said.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2025

So maybe you draw a line to my kind of modal baselines that kind of harken back to “A Love Supreme.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2025

"Labour will set targets for modal shift to lower emissions from the transport sector," the document spells out rather dryly, on page 16.

From BBC • Apr. 25, 2024

In the modal music category, medieval chant and the classical music of India are easiest to find.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones