Etymologically
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modification

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:39. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌmɒdɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/[1]
  • US: /ˌmɑdɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Middle French modification and partly borrowed from Latin modificātiō (“bringing to order, regulation; a measuring”),[2][3][4] a noun of action from modificō (“to measure, limit, moderate”),[2][3][5] which is formed from modus (“measure, manner”) and the combining form of faciō (“to make”).[3][5][6] Etymonline traces modus to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to take appropriate measures”).[3][5] The OED notes that the French noun is found in Anglo-Norman from the late 13th century, in the sense "condition, proviso",[2] and the Anglo-Norman Dictionary records modificacion, alteration or change, from 1360.[7] In post-classical Latin modificātiō also meant adjustment or qualification.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Scots law, the assessing and fixing of a legal payment, penalty, price or valuation: 1492, in the Acts of the Lords of Council in civil cases.[2][8] The Shorter Oxford notes its historical use for fixing a parish minister's stipend.[9]

Semantic evolution

In philosophy from 1502 the word meant the bringing of something into a particular mode of existence,[2][3] a sense that reflects the Latin modus as "manner, mode".[6] From 1603, in John Florio's translation of Montaigne, it meant the limiting or qualifying of a statement,[2] and Merriam-Webster gives 1603 as its first date.[10] In grammar it has named the qualifying of one word by another since 1668.[2] The result of altering something, a modified form, is recorded from 1669,[2] the 1660s in Etymonline,[3] and the now usual sense, the act of making partial changes to something without changing its basic nature, from 1775, in Edmund Burke.[2][3] Hoad dates the verb modify in the sense "change partially" to the 18th century as well.[6] Later technical senses include umlaut in phonetics (1845) and a non-inherited change in an organism caused by its environment (1875).[2]

Timeline

  • 1492 – in Scots law, the assessing of a payment or penalty.[2]
  • 1502 – in philosophy, the bringing of a thing into a particular mode of existence.[2]
  • 1603 – the qualifying or limiting of a statement.[2][10]
  • 1668 – in grammar, the qualifying of the sense of a word by another.[2]
  • 1669 – the result of a change; a modified form.[2]
  • 1775 – a partial alteration, or the act of making one.[2][3]
  • 1845 – in phonetics, umlaut.[2]
  • 1875 – in biology, a non-heritable change produced by the environment.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act or process of modifying something, changing it partly without altering its basic nature.
  2. A small change or adjustment; something that has been modified: After a few modifications, the engine ran smoothly.
  3. (grammar) The qualification or limiting of the meaning of a word or phrase by a modifier.
  4. (biology) A change in an organism caused by its environment and not passed on to its offspring.

Word family

  • modificator
  • overmodification
  • premodification
  • remodification

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster