modulation

American  

[moj-uh-ley-shuhn, mod-yuh-] / ˌmɒdʒ əˈleɪ ʃən, ˌmɒd yə- /

noun

1. the act of modulating.

2. the state of being modulated.

3. Music. transition from one key to another.

4. Grammar.

   1. the use of a particular distribution of stress or pitch in a construction, as the use of rising pitch on here in John is here?

   2. the feature of a construction resulting from such use.

---

modulation British  

/ ˌmɒdjʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of modulating or the condition of being modulated

2. music the transition from one key to another

3. grammar

   1. another word for intonation

   2. the grammatical expression of modality

4. electrical engineering

   1. the act or process of superimposing the amplitude, frequency, phase, etc, of a wave or signal onto another wave (the carrier wave) or signal or onto an electron beam See also amplitude modulation frequency modulation phase modulation velocity modulation

   2. the variation of the modulated signal

---

Etymology

Origin of modulation

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin modulātiōn- (stem of modulātiō ) rhythmical measure. See modulate, -ion

Explanation

Modulation is when you control or adjust something, like when you lower your voice to a loud whisper in order to make what you're saying more dramatic and mysterious. The noun modulation has several meanings, including a change of key in music or of the sound of a person's voice. It almost always involves some kind of deliberate modification or slight change, like an actor adjusting his pitch or volume depending on the role he's playing or the mood of the scene. The Latin root, modulationem, has a musical meaning: "rhythm, singing and playing, or melody."

Example Sentences

Here’s to a lifetime of dopamine modulation, I guess.

From Slate • Feb. 8, 2026

It was suggested that the height of the accretion column was changed with the 10-year flux modulation.

From Science Daily • Dec. 14, 2025

Compared to the fine modulation of an electric pedal, the GV70’s throttle response can often feel imprecise, a half-beat behind.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025

Yet the production is so entrancing that the occasional lack of modulation by the performers hardly matters.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2025

Sometimes, in the course of the modulation of relations between animals, there are inventions that seem to have been thought up on the spur of the moment, like propositions to be submitted for possible evolution.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas