modification

[ mod-uh-fi-key-shuhn ]

noun

1. an act or instance of modifying.
2. the state of being modified; partial alteration.
3. a modified form; variety.
4. Biology. a change in a living organism acquired from its own activity or environment and not transmitted to its descendants.
5. limitation or qualification.
6. Grammar.
   1. the use of a modifier in a construction, or of modifiers in a class of constructions or in a language.
   2. the meaning of a modifier, especially as it affects the meaning of the word or other form modified:

      Limitation is one kind of modification.

   3. a change in the phonological shape of a morpheme, word, or other form when it functions as an element in a construction, as the change of not to -n't in doesn't.
   4. an adjustment in the form of a word as it passes from one language to another.

modification

/ ˌmɒdɪfɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of modifying or the condition of being modified
2. something modified; the result of a modification
3. a small change or adjustment
4. grammar the relation between a modifier and the word or phrase that it modifies

modification

/ mŏd′ə-fĭ-kā′shən /

1. A change in an organism that results from external influences and cannot be inherited.

Derived Forms

• ˈmodifiˌcatory, adjective

Other Words From

• inter·modi·fi·cation noun
• over·modi·fi·cation noun
• premod·i·fi·cation noun
• remod·i·fi·cation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of modification¹

1495–1505; < Latin modificātiōn- (stem of modificātiō ), equivalent to modificāt ( us ) (past participle of modificāre; modify ) + -iōn- -ion

Related Words

• adjustment
• alteration
• conversion