mode English · revision 4102

+ English has two nouns spelled ''mode'', both from Latin modus “measure, manner”: “manner, way”, with its musical and grammatical senses, taken directly from Latin, and “fashion”, borrowed from French in the 17th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /məʊd/, US /moʊd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|manner}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374|origins=la modus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|moede]],^(MWU 2024) from Old French mode and directly [[bor|la|modus|t=measure, extent; proper measure, rhythm, song; way, manner]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) in Late Latin also “mood” in grammar and logic,^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*med-|t=to take appropriate measures]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) the root of [[mete]] “to measure”.^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[mood]], [[model]] and [[moderate]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Melodies, strains of music: about 1374 in the OED, of the scales of ancient Greek music,^(OED 1989) and about 1380 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's Boece.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In grammar it meant mood, the inflectional category of a verb, from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) In music, a method of dividing the octave, it is from the 1670s for ancient Greek music and by 1721 for the church modes and modern major and minor.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) “The manner in which a thing is done” is first recorded in 1667 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) and by the 1660s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) In statistics the mode, the most frequent value, came later.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – a melody; a musical scale.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – grammatical mood.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1667 – a manner, way.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1721 – in modern music.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A manner, way or method of doing something: ''a mode of transport''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A given condition of functioning: ''the camera is in automatic mode''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In music, any of certain fixed arrangements of the diatonic tones of an octave, as the major and minor modes.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In statistics, the value that occurs most often in a set of data.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In grammar, [[mood]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[modal]]

+ * [[modality]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|fashion}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1645|origins=la modus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|mode|t=manner, fashion, style]], 15th century,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a specialized use of the French word, from [[la|modus|t=manner]], that also gave the other mode.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Current fashion, prevailing style: about 1645 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) the 1640s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1642 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Modish'', fashionable, is from 1660.^(Barnhart 1988) A verb ''to mode it'', to follow the fashion, is from 1656.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1642 – fashion.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1656 – ''to mode it''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1660 – ''modish''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The current or customary fashion or style.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[modish]]

+ * [[modiste]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[model]]

+ * [[moderate]]

+ * [[moderation]]

+ * [[moderator]]

+ * [[module]]

+ * [[modern]]

+ * [[mood]]

+ * [[modest]]

+ * [[modify]]

+ * [[mete]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}