mode

- 16 dictionary results

mode

1 [mohd]

–noun

1.	a manner of acting or doing; method; way: modern modes of transportation.

2.	a particular type or form of something: Heat is a mode of motion.

3.	a designated condition or status, as for performing a task or responding to a problem: a machine in the automatic mode.

Philosophy.

a.	appearance, form, or disposition taken by a thing, or by one of its essential properties or attributes.

b.	(in the philosophy of Spinoza) one of the nonessential qualifications of God, contingent upon other modes. Compare attribute (def. 9).

Logic.

a.	modality (def. 3).

b.	mood ² (def. 2).

6.	Music. any of various arrangements of the diatonic tones of an octave, differing from one another in the order of the whole steps and half steps; scale.

7.	Grammar. mood ² (def. 1).

8.	Statistics. the value of the variate at which a relative or absolute maximum occurs in the frequency distribution of the variate.

9.	Petrography. the actual mineral composition of a rock, expressed in percentages by weight.

10.	Physics. any of the distinct patterns of oscillation that a given periodically varying system can have.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME mod(e) (< OF) < L modus measured amount, limit, manner, kind, tone

Synonyms:
1. See method.

mode

2 [mohd]

–noun

1.	fashion or style in manners, dress, etc.: He was much concerned to keep up with the latest mode.

2.	a light gray or drab color.

Origin:
1635–45; < F < L modus; see mode ¹

mo⋅dal⋅i⋅ty

[moh-dal-i-tee]

–noun, plural -ties.

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.

Origin:
1610–20; < ML modālitās. See modal, -ity

mood

2 [mood]

–noun

Grammar.

a set of categories for which the verb is inflected in many languages, and that is typically used to indicate the syntactic relation of the clause in which the verb occurs to other clauses in the sentence, or the attitude of the speaker toward what he or she is saying, as certainty or uncertainty, wish or command, emphasis or hesitancy.

b.	a set of syntactic devices in some languages that is similar to this set in function or meaning, involving the use of auxiliary words, as can, may, might.

c.	any of the categories of these sets: the Latin indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods.

2.	Logic. a classification of categorical syllogisms by the use of three letters that name, respectively, the major premise, the minor premise, and the conclusion.

Also called mode.

Origin:
1525–35; special use of mood ¹ by influence of mode ¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To mode

mo·dal·i·ty (mō-dāl'ĭ-tē)

n. pl. mo·dal·i·ties

The fact, state, or quality of being modal.
A tendency to conform to a general pattern or belong to a particular group or category.
Logic The classification of propositions on the basis of whether they assert or deny the possibility, impossibility, contingency, or necessity of their content. Also called mode.
modalities The ceremonial forms, protocols, or conditions that surround formal agreements or negotiations: "[He] grew so enthusiastic about our prospects that he began to speculate on the modalities of signing" (Henry A. Kissinger).
Medicine A therapeutic method or agent, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or electrotherapy, that involves the physical treatment of a disorder.
Physiology Any of the various types of sensation, such as vision or hearing.

mode (mōd)

1. A manner, way, or method of doing or acting: modern modes of travel. See Synonyms at method.
2. A particular form, variety, or manner: a mode of expression.
3. A given condition of functioning; a status: The spacecraft was in its recovery mode.
4. Any of certain fixed arrangements of the diatonic tones of an octave, as the major and minor scales of Western music.
5. A patterned arrangement, as the one characteristic of the music of classical Greece or the medieval Christian Church.
6. See modality.
7. The arrangement or order of the propositions in a syllogism according to both quality and quantity.
The current or customary fashion or style. See Synonyms at fashion.
Music
1. Any of certain fixed arrangements of the diatonic tones of an octave, as the major and minor scales of Western music.
2. A patterned arrangement, as the one characteristic of the music of classical Greece or the medieval Christian Church.
3. See modality.
4. The arrangement or order of the propositions in a syllogism according to both quality and quantity.
Philosophy The particular appearance, form, or manner in which an underlying substance, or a permanent aspect or attribute of it, is manifested.
Logic
1. See modality.
2. The arrangement or order of the propositions in a syllogism according to both quality and quantity.
Statistics The value or item occurring most frequently in a series of observations or statistical data.
Mathematics The number or range of numbers in a set that occurs the most frequently.
Geology The mineral composition of a sample of igneous rock.
Physics Any of numerous patterns of wave motion or vibration.
Grammar Mood.

[Middle English, tune, from Latin modus, manner, tune. Sense 2, French, from Old French, fashion, manner, from Latin modus; see med- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Mode

Mode\, n. [L. modus a measure, due or proper measure, bound, manner, form; akin to E. mete: cf. F. mode. See Mete, and cf. Commodious, Mood in grammar, Modus.]

1. Manner of doing or being; method; form; fashion; custom; way; style; as, the mode of speaking; the mode of dressing.

The duty of itself being resolved on, the mode of doing it may easily be found. --Jer. Taylor.

A table richly spread in regal mode. --Milton.

2. Prevailing popular custom; fashion, especially in the phrase the mode.

The easy, apathetic graces of a man of the mode. --Macaulay.

3. Variety; gradation; degree. --Pope.

4. (Metaph.) Any combination of qualities or relations, considered apart from the substance to which they belong, and treated as entities; more generally, condition, or state of being; manner or form of arrangement or manifestation; form, as opposed to matter.

Modes I call such complex ideas, which, however compounded, contain not in them the supposition of subsisting by themselves, but are considered as dependencies on, or affections of, substances. --Locke.

5. (Logic) The form in which the proposition connects the predicate and subject, whether by simple, contingent, or necessary assertion; the form of the syllogism, as determined by the quantity and quality of the constituent proposition; mood.

6. (Gram.) Same as Mood.

7. (Mus.) The scale as affected by the various positions in it of the minor intervals; as, the Dorian mode, the Ionic mode, etc., of ancient Greek music.

Note: In modern music, only the major and the minor mode, of whatever key, are recognized.

8. A kind of silk. See Alamode, n.

Syn: Method; manner. See Method.

Language Translation for : mode

Spanish: modo,

German: die Art und Weise,

Japanese: 様式

More Translations »

mode

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.

Jargon File 4.2.0
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mode (1)

"manner," c.1374, "kind of musical scale," from L. modus "measure, rhythm, song, manner" (in L.L. also "mood" in grammar and logic), from PIE base *med-/*met- "to measure, limit, consider, advise, take appropriate measures" (cf. L. meditari "to think or reflect upon, consider," mederi "to look after, heal, cure;" O.E. metan "to measure out," Gk. medein "to rule"). Meaning "manner in which a thing is done" first recorded 1667.

mode (2)

"current fashion," c.1645, from Fr. mode, from L. modus "manner" (see mode (1)).

Mode

A statistical term referring to the most frequently occurring term in a set of numbers.

Investopedia Commentary

For example, in the following set of data--32, 34, 34, 34, 45, 67, 71, 43--the mode is 34 because it is the most common number in the set .

mode (mōd)
n.

The value or item occurring most frequently in a series of observations or statistical data.
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
An object-oriented language.
["The Programming Language Mode: Language Definition and User Guide", J. Vihavainen, C-1987-50, U Helsinki, 1987].
[The Jargon File]
(1994-10-21)

mode
1. 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 chat.
2. More technically, 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.
[The Jargon File]
(1994-12-22)

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