modal

 
Pronunciation: /ˈməʊd(ə)l/

adjective

  • 1relating to mode or form as opposed to substance.
  • 2 Grammar of or denoting the mood of a verb.
  • relating to a modal verb.
  • 3 Statistics relating to a value that occurs most frequently in a given set of data.
  • 4 Music of or denoting music using melodies or harmonies based on modes other than the ordinary major and minor scales.
  • 5 Logic (of a proposition) in which the predicate is affirmed of the subject with some qualification, or which involves the affirmation of possibility, impossibility, necessity, or contingency.

noun

Grammar
  • a modal word or construction.

Derivatives

modally

adverb

Origin:

mid 16th century (in modal (sense 5 of the adjective)): from medieval Latin modalis, from Latin modus (see mode)