modern English · revision 2600

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1500–20 (Dunbar's Poems)|origins=la modus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈmɒd.ən/, US /ˈmɑː.dɚn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|moderne]] and directly [[bor|la-lat|modernus]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) a word used by Priscian and Cassiodorus,^(Etymonline) probably modelled on [[m|la|hodiernus|t=of today]],^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|modo|t=just now; in a certain manner]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) the ablative of [[m|la|modus|t=manner, measure]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*med-|t=to take appropriate measures]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Latin modus is the source of [[mode]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “Now existing, extant”: 1500–20, in Dunbar's ''Poems'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) or about 1500.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Of or relating to present and recent times” is from 1585,^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1988) and the noun, a person of modern times as opposed to the ancients, also from 1585.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) In Shakespeare it often meant “everyday, ordinary, commonplace”.^(Etymonline) Of languages, the current form of Greek and others, it is from the 1690s,^(Etymonline) and ''modern languages'' as a field of study from 1821.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) “Up to date, not antiquated” is by 1808,^(Etymonline) and the noun “one who is up to date” from 1897.^(Etymonline) ''Modernism'' is from 1737, in Swift's letters,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''modern-day'' from 1872.^(Etymonline) The American Heritage Dictionary notes that ''modern'' is always moving on to the next modern thing, and that even ''postmodern'', first recorded in 1949, will one day seem old-fashioned.^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1500–20 – now existing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1585 – of present times; noun, a modern.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1690s – of a language's current form.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1737 – ''modernism''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1808 – up to date.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1821 – ''modern languages''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1949 – ''postmodern''.^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Relating to recent times or the present; [[contemporary]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Up to date; using the latest techniques or styles.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Relating to a recent style in art, such as [[modernism]]; [[avant-garde]].^(AHD)

+ # Of a language, in its present form, as opposed to Old or Middle.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person of modern times or with modern ideas.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[modernly]]

+ * [[modernness]]

+ * [[modernity]]

+ * [[modernistic]]

+ * [[pseudomodern]]

+ * [[supermodern]]

+ * [[antimodern]]

+ * [[modernize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[moderne]]

+ * [[mode]]

+ * [[modernism]]

+ * [[modest]]

+ * [[moderate]]

+ * [[postmodern]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}