Etymology : Middle English moede, from Latin modus measure, manner, musical mode; more at METE
Pronunciation : mOd
Function : noun
Date : 14th century
1. style, way, manner; fashion; situation, manner of operation (Computers). mode\mode\ , n. [l. modus a measure, due or proper measure, bound, manner, form; akin to e. mete: cf. f. mode. see:
mete, and cf. commodious, mood in grammar, modus.].
2. manner of doing or being; method; form; fashion; custom; way; style; as, the mode of speaking; the mode of dressing. the duty of itself being resolved on, the mode of doing it may easily be found. taylor. a table richly spread in regal mode.
3. prevailing popular custom; fashion, especially in the phrase the mode. the easy, apathetic graces of a man of the mode.
4. variety; gradation; degree.
5. (metaph.) any combination of qualities or relations, considered apart from the substance to which they belong, and treated as entities; more generally, condition, or state of being; manner or form of arrangement or manifestation; form, as opposed to matter. modes i call such complex ideas, which, however compounded, contain not in them the supposition of subsisting by themselves, but are considered as dependencies on, or affections of, substances.
6. (logic) the form in which the proposition connects the predicate and subject, whether by simple, contingent, or necessary assertion; the form of the syllogism, as determined by the quantity and quality of the constituent proposition; mood.
7. (gram.) same as mood.
8. (mus.) the scale as affected by the various positions in it of the minor intervals; as, the dorian mode, the ionic mode, etc., of ancient greek music.note: in modern music, only the major and the minor mode, of whatever key, are recognized.
9. a kind of silk. see:
alamode, n.
10. Manner of doing or being; method; form; fashion; custom; way; style; as, the mode of speaking; the mode of dressing.
11. Prevailing popular custom; fashion, especially in the phrase the mode.
12. Variety; gradation; degree.
13. Any combination of qualities or relations, considered apart from the substance to which they belong, and treated as entities; more generally, condition, or state of being; manner or form of arrangement or manifestation; form, as opposed to matter.
14. The form in which the proposition connects the predicate and subject, whether by simple, contingent, or necessary assertion; the form of the syllogism, as determined by the quantity and quality of the constituent proposition; mood.
15. Same as Mood.
16. The scale as affected by the various positions in it of the minor intervals; as, the Dorian mode, the Ionic mode, etc., of ancient Greek music.
17. A kind of silk.
18. See Alamode, n. the most frequent value of a random variable any of various fixed orders of the various diatonic notes within an octave a particular functioning condition or arrangement; "switched from keyboard to voice mode".
19. 1. A mode of life or behaviour is a particular way of living or behaving. He switched automatically into interview mode.
20. A mode is a particular style in art, literature, or dress. a slightly more elegant and formal mode of dress.
21. On some cameras or electronic devices, the different modes available are the different programs or settings that you can choose when you use them. when the camera is in manual mode. In music, any of a variety of concepts used to classify scales and melodies. In Western music, the term is particularly used for the medieval church modes. Keys in tonal music are normally said to be in either major or minor mode, depending particularly on the third degree of the scale. Indian ragas can be regarded as modes. The concept of mode may involve much more than simply a classification of scales, extending to embrace an entire vocabulary of melodic formulas and perhaps other aspects of music that traditionally occur in tandem with a given set of formulas. The term mode has also been used for purely rhythmic patterns such as those of the Ars Antiqua, which were based on ancient Greek poetic metres.