modification

English

Etymology

From Middle English modificatioune, from Middle French modification and its etymon Latin modificātiō (“a measuring”), from modificāre (“to limit, control, modify”); see modify.^[1] By surface analysis, modify +‎ -ication.

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɑdɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɒdɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
Audio (US): (file)
Hyphenation: mod‧i‧fi‧ca‧tion
Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

Example (linguistics)
am → 'm in I'm

modification (countable and uncountable, plural modifications)

(obsolete, Scots law) The act of assessing and prescribing a payment, penalty, price, valuation, etc. [15th–19th c.]
- 1585, Treason Pretended against the King of Scots, […], London: […] Thomas Nelson, […], →OCLC, page 19:
  Wherein his highnes commandement is, that a graue, wiſe, ⁊ ſage man, ſhalbe appointed pꝛeſident, who may haue yͤ ouerſight of theſe boũds, ⁊ be anſwerable therefoꝛe to the biſhop, his coũſell ⁊ ſynode, ⁊ he to be reſpected reaſonably foꝛ his paines, at the modification of ſtipends: […]
- 1633, “No. 64, 1633.—Paper, well preserved, with Bishop’s and other signatures.”, in W[illiam] Macgill, compiler, Old Ross-shire and Scotland as Seen in the Tain and Balnagown Documents, Inverness: Northern Counties Newspaper and Printing and Publishing Company, published 1909, →OCLC, pages 33–34:
  Mekle Kindeass 2 b. 1 f. and £3 12s 1d . . . . and whatever augmentation . . be ye lords commissioners . . . . for modificaton of stipends and plantation of kirks . . . .
- 1838, William Bell, “Augmentation, Process of”, in A Dictionary and Digest of the Law of Scotland, […], Edinburgh: John Anderson, […] Bell & Bradfute, […]; London: Saunders & Benning, →OCLC, page 75:
  When the decree of modification is pronounced, the Teind Court, at the same time, remits to the junior Lord Ordinary to prepare a scheme of locality; i. e. an allocation of the modified stipend on the several heritors or others liable therefor; […]
(obsolete, philosophy) The form of existence belonging to a particular object, entity etc.; a mode of being. [17th–19th c.]
- 1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC:
  Pleasure is the business of woman's life, according to the present modification of society […]
(linguistics) The change undergone by a word when used in a construction. [from 17th c.]
The result of modifying something; a new or changed form. [from 17th c.]
The act of making a change to something while keeping its essential character intact; an alteration or adjustment. [from 18th c.]
behavior modification officer

Jim's modification to the radio's tuning resulted in clearer sound.
(biology) A change to an organism as a result of its environment that is not transmissable to offspring. [from 19th c.]
Due to his sunbathing, Jim's body experienced modifications: he got a tan.
(linguistics) A change to a word when it is borrowed by another language.
The Chinese word kòutóu had a modification made to become the English kowtow.