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mode

Syllabification: (mode)
Pronunciation: /mōd/

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Definition of mode

noun

  • 1a way or manner in which something occurs or is experienced, expressed, or done:his preferred mode of travel was a kayak differences between language modes, namely speech and writing
  • an option allowing a change in the method of operation of a device, especially a camera:a camcorder in automatic mode
  • Computing a way of operating or using a system:some computers provide several so-called processor modes
  • Physics any of the distinct kinds or patterns of vibration of an oscillating system.
  • Logic the character of a modal proposition (whether necessary, contingent, possible, or impossible).
  • Logic & Grammaranother term for mood2.
  • 2a fashion or style in clothes, art, literature, etc.:in the Seventies, the mode for activewear took hold
  • 3 Statistics the value that occurs most frequently in a given set of data.
  • 4 Music a set of musical notes forming a scale and from which melodies and harmonies are constructed.

    The modes of plainsong and later Western music (including the usual major and minor scales) correspond to the diatonic scales played on the white notes of a piano. They are named arbitrarily after ancient Greek modes: Ionian (or major), Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian

Origin:

late Middle English (in the musical and grammatical senses): from Latin modus 'measure', from an Indo-European root shared by mete1; compare with mood2

mode in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of mode in the British & World English dictionary
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