Etymologically
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modulation

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌmɒdjʊˈleɪʃn̩/, /-d͡ʒʊ-/[1]
  • US: /ˌmɑd͡ʒəˈleɪʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English modulacioun,[2][3] borrowed from Middle French modulation and directly borrowed from Latin modulātiō (“rhythmical measure, singing, melody”),[4][3][5] a noun of action from modulor (“to regulate, measure off; to play”),[3][6] from modulus (“small measure”), a diminutive of modus (“measure, manner”),[3] from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to take appropriate measures”).[3] Etymonline calls the French word Old French,[3] while the OED dates it in French to 1365.[4] In classical Latin it meant the inflection of the voice and, in architecture, measuring by a standard unit; the senses "melody" and "singing" are post-classical.[4] The OED compares Italian modulazione and Spanish modulación.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Harmony; singing or making music; a melody: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, glossing Latin modulationis.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The musical first sense, singing or a melody, died out in the 19th century.[4] From 1531, in Elyot's Governour, the word took on the Latin idea of measure: regulating or varying something to keep due proportion, later also variation of line or colour in art.[4][3] From 1543 it was the inflection of the voice in tone and pitch,[4] and in 1696 it was first used for the passing from one key to another in music.[4][3] Johnson (1755) defined it first as forming a thing to a certain proportion.[7] In the 20th century the word entered physics and engineering: from 1919 it was the varying of a radio wave or other signal to carry information,[4] as in amplitude modulation and frequency modulation.[8] From 1939 it also meant, in biology, the reversible change of a cell in response to its environment.[4]

Timeline

  • before 1398 – singing, making music; a melody (obsolete by 1837).[2][4]
  • 1531 – regulating something to due measure and proportion.[4][3]
  • 1543 – inflection of the voice in tone and pitch.[4]
  • 1665 – in architecture, proportioning the parts of an order (obsolete by 1842).[4]
  • 1696 – in music, passing from one key to another.[4][3]
  • 1919 – the varying of a wave or signal to carry information.[4]
  • 1939 – in biology, reversible change in a cell.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of modulating or the state of being modulated; regulating or adjusting something to keep it in proportion.[8][6][4]
  2. A change in the pitch, tone or loudness of the voice or of a musical sound.[6][8][4]
  3. (music) A change from one key to another within a piece.[8][6][4]
  4. (physics, electronics) The varying of the amplitude, frequency or phase of a carrier wave to transmit a signal.[8][6][4]
  5. (archaic) Singing or making music; a melody.[6][9][4]

Word family

  • demodulation
  • intermodulation
  • overmodulation
  • amplitude modulation
  • frequency modulation
  • phase modulation
  • pulse modulation

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press