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. )