modality

American  

[moh-dal-i-tee] / moʊˈdæl ɪ ti /

noun

modalities plural

1. the quality or state of being modal.

2. an attribute or circumstance that denotes mode or manner.

3. Also called mode.  Logic. the classification of propositions according to whether they are contingently true or false, possible, impossible, or necessary.

4. Medicine/Medical. the application of a therapeutic agent, usually a physical therapeutic agent.

5. one of the primary forms of sensation, as vision or touch.

---

modality British  

/ məʊˈdælɪtɪ /

noun

1. the condition of being modal

2. a quality, attribute, or circumstance that denotes mode, mood, or manner

3. logic the property of a statement of being classified under one of the concepts studied by modal logic, esp necessity or possibility

4. any physical or electrical therapeutic method or agency

5. any of the five senses

---

Other Word Forms

• multimodality
  noun

Etymology

Origin of modality

From the Medieval Latin word modālitās, dating back to 1610–20. See modal, -ity

Explanation

A modality is the way or mode in which something exists or is done. You might often see it used with reference to diagnostic modality, which is the way in which a disease or illness is diagnosed by a doctor. Modality shares its root with the word mode, meaning "the way in which something happens or is experienced." A sensory modality is a way of sensing, like vision or hearing. Modality in someone's voice gives a sense of the person's mood. In logic, modality has to do with whether a proposition is necessary, possible, or impossible. In general, a modality is a particular way in which something exists.

Example Sentences

Smart glasses are gaining traction as "that next modality" to follow the success of the smartphone, she added.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

Xanadu’s modality wins the company points in Chokshi’s book.

From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the lone dissenter, frames Colorado’s law as prohibiting merely “a dangerous therapy modality that, incidentally, involves provider speech.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

So I didn’t know that this was an available modality to me.

From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2025

Further, the Logos is not cut off and separated from God, nor is he a mere modality in him.

From History of Dogma, Volume 2 (of 7) by Buchanan, Neil