modify
[mod-uh-fahy]
- to change somewhat the form or qualities of; alter partially; amend: to modify a contract.
- Grammar. (of a word, phrase, or clause) to stand in a syntactically subordinate relation to (another word, phrase, or clause), usually with descriptive, limiting, or particularizing meaning; be a modifier. In a good man, good modifies man.
- to be the modifier or attribute of.
- to change (a vowel) by umlaut.
- to reduce or lessen in degree or extent; moderate; soften: to modify one's demands.
Show More
- to be or become modified.
Show More
Origin of modify
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
5. Modify, qualify, temper suggest altering an original statement, condition, or the like, so as to avoid anything excessive or extreme. To modify is to alter in one or more particulars, generally in the direction of leniency or moderation: to modify demands, rates. To qualify is to restrict or limit by exceptions or conditions: to qualify one's praise, hopes. To temper is to alter the quality of something, generally so as to diminish its force or harshness: to temper one's criticism with humor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
repairtweakvaryadjustadaptreworkcorrectrevisecustomizereshapelowerrelaxsoftenrestrictcurbtransmutemutateconvertdoctorreorganizeExamples from the Web for modify
Contemporary Examples
Like Berners-Lee, Cunningham made his basic software available for anyone to modify and use.
McNaughton says Pennsylvania has no plans to modify its existing cocktail.
Or, you can modify that rule by observing that each work of art generates its own unique rules….
If Truffaut had lived to see Platoon, the best film of 1986, he might have wanted to modify his opinion.
If the senior rabbis had the will, Michaelson said, they could reinterpret the Torah and modify Halakhic, or religious, law.
Historical Examples
As respects this allocation, how would I modify that instrument?
'Tis Sixty Years SinceCharles Francis Adams
We modify it in these degenerate days to "blood will have money:"
The result of this attempt to modify the scheme was the Indian mutiny.
The History of the First West India RegimentA. B. Ellis
It is his to choose his environment; it is his to modify his environment when he cannot leave it.
The Meaning of EvolutionSamuel Christian Schmucker
He found cause to modify the excellent impression he had received at first.
St. Martin's SummerRafael Sabatini
modify
- to change the structure, character, intent, etc, of
- to make less extreme or uncompromisingto modify a demand
- grammar (of a word or group of words) to bear the relation of modifier to (another word or group of words)
- linguistics to change (a vowel) by umlaut
- (intr) to be or become modified
Show More
Word Origin
C14: from Old French modifier, from Latin modificāre to limit, control, from modus measure + facere to make
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
Word Origin and History for modify
v.
late 14c., from Old French modifier (14c.), from Latin modificare "to limit, measure off, restrain," from modus "measure, manner" (see mode (n.1)) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Related: Modified; modifying.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper