mode |mōd| noun 1 a way or manner in which something occurs or is experienced, expressed, or done : his preferred mode of travel was a kayak | differences between language modes, namely speech and writing. • an option allowing a change in the method of operation of a device, esp. a camera : a camcorder in automatic mode. • Computing a way of operating or using a system : some computers provide several so-called processor modes. • Physics any of the distinct kinds or patterns of vibration of an oscillating system. • Logic the character of a modal proposition (whether necessary, contingent, possible, or impossible). • Logic & Grammar another term for mood 2 . 2 a fashion or style in clothes, art, literature, etc. : in the Seventies, the mode for activewear took hold. 3 Statistics the value that occurs most frequently in a given set of data. 4 Music a set of musical notes forming a scale and from which melodies and harmonies are constructed. The modes of plainsong and later Western music (including the usual major and minor scales) correspond to the diatonic scales played on the white notes of a piano. They are named arbitrarily after ancient Greek modes: Ionian (or major), Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. 5 (in full mode beige) a drab or light gray color. ORIGIN late Middle English (in the musical and grammatical senses): from Latin modus ‘measure,’ from an Indo-European root shared by mete 1 ; compare with mood 2 .
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:28:58 +0000
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