modulation

American  

[moj-uh-ley-shuhn, mod-yuh-] / ˌmɒdʒ əˈleɪ ʃən, ˌmɒd jə- /

noun

1. the act of modulating.

2. the state of being modulated.

3. Music. transition from one key to another.

4. Grammar.

   1. the use of a particular distribution of stress or pitch in a construction, as the use of rising pitch on here in John is here?

   2. the feature of a construction resulting from such use.

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modulation British  

/ ˌmɒdjʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of modulating or the condition of being modulated

2. music the transition from one key to another

3. grammar

   1. another word for intonation

   2. the grammatical expression of modality

4. electrical engineering

   1. the act or process of superimposing the amplitude, frequency, phase, etc, of a wave or signal onto another wave (the carrier wave) or signal or onto an electron beam See also amplitude modulation frequency modulation phase modulation velocity modulation

   2. the variation of the modulated signal

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Etymology

Origin of modulation

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin modulātiōn- (stem of modulātiō ) rhythmical measure. See modulate, -ion

Explanation

Modulation is when you control or adjust something, like when you lower your voice to a loud whisper in order to make what you're saying more dramatic and mysterious. The noun modulation has several meanings, including a change of key in music or of the sound of a person's voice. It almost always involves some kind of deliberate modification or slight change, like an actor adjusting his pitch or volume depending on the role he's playing or the mood of the scene. The Latin root, modulationem, has a musical meaning: "rhythm, singing and playing, or melody."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

modulation

Created for television by Shawn Ryan and Eileen Myers, “American Hostage” has something of a modulation problem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Drake’s bid to soundtrack the warm weather months is “Janice,” which incorporates a bizarre vocal modulation that makes the simple refrain—“beep beep baby”—strangely addictive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

To achieve this, they combined time-spectrum mapping, compressive spectral imaging and coherent modulation imaging.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 21, 2026

Each laser transmitted data using a modulation method that splits information into multiple closely spaced frequency channels.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 2, 2026

Amari knew the perfect modulation of that voice, the deep bass edged with gold.

From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper