mode

mode (məʊd)
—n
1.	a manner or way of doing, acting, or existing
2.	the current fashion or style
3.	music
	a.  any of the various scales of notes within one octave, esp any of the twelve natural diatonic scales taken in ascending order used in plainsong, folk song, and art music until 1600
	b.  (in the music of classical Greece) any of the descending diatonic scales from which the liturgical modes evolved
	c.  either of the two main scale systems in music since 1600: major mode; minor mode
4.	logic, linguistics modality another name for mood
5.	philosophy a complex combination of ideas the realization of which is not determined by the component ideas
6.	mean Compare median that one of a range of values that has the highest frequency as determined statistically
7.	the quantitative mineral composition of an igneous rock
8.	physics one of the possible configurations of a travelling or stationary wave
9.	physics one of the fundamental vibrations
[C14: from Latin modus measure, manner]

mode

heal, cure;" O.E. metan "to measure out," Gk. medein "to rule"). Meaning "manner in which a thing is done" first recorded 1667.

mode

"current fashion," 1640s, from Fr. mode, from L. modus "manner" (see mode (1)).

mode (mōd)
n.

1. The value or item occurring most frequently in a series of observations or statistical data.

2. The number or range of numbers in a mathematical set that occurs the most frequently.

mode   (mōd)  Pronunciation Key  The value that occurs most frequently in a data set. For example, in the set 125, 140, 172, 164, 140, 110, the mode is 140. Compare arithmetic mean, average, median.

mode definition

In statistics, the most frequently appearing value in a set of numbers or data points. In the numbers 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 4, 9, 6, 8, and 6, the mode is 6, because it appears more often than any of the other figures. (See average; compare mean and median.)

mode

n. [common] A general state, usually used with an adjective describing the state. Use of the word `mode' rather than `state' implies that the state is extended over time, and probably also that some activity characteristic of that state is being carried out. "No time to hack; I'm in thesis mode." In its jargon sense, `mode' is most often attributed to people, though it is sometimes applied to programs and inanimate objects. In particular, see hack mode, day mode, night mode, demo mode, fireworks mode, and yoyo mode; also talk mode.

One also often hears the verbs `enable' and `disable' used in connection with jargon modes. Thus, for example, a sillier way of saying "I'm going to crash" is "I'm going to enable crash mode now". One might also hear a request to "disable flame mode, please".

In a usage much closer to techspeak, a mode is a special state that certain user interfaces must pass into in order to perform certain functions. For example, in order to insert characters into a document in the Unix editor `vi', one must type the "i" key, which invokes the "Insert" command. The effect of this command is to put vi into "insert mode", in which typing the "i" key has a quite different effect (to wit, it inserts an "i" into the document). One must then hit another special key, "ESC", in order to leave "insert mode". Nowadays, modeful interfaces are generally considered losing but survive in quite a few widely used tools built in less enlightened times.

Mode definition

An object-oriented language.
["The Programming Language Mode: Language Definition and User Guide", J. Vihavainen, C-1987-50, U Helsinki, 1987].
[Jargon File]
(1994-10-21)