different between modify vs modification

English

Etymology

From Middle English modifien, from Middle French modifier, from Latin modificare (“to limit, control, regulate, deponent”), from modificari (“to measure off, set bound to, moderate”), from modus (“measure”) + facere (“to make”); see mode.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?d?fa?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?d?fa?/
• Hyphenation: mod?i?fy

Verb

modify (third-person singular simple present modifies, present participle modifying, simple past and past participle modified)

1. (transitive) To change part of.
2. (intransitive) To be or become modified.
3. (transitive) To set bounds to; to moderate.
4. (grammar, transitive) To qualify the meaning of.
   • 1977, Linda R. Waugh, A Semantic Analysis of Word Order: Position of the Adjective in French

     There is inherently no ordering to the modification and no hierarchy of modification: that is, both adjectives modify the substantive and both apply equally to the substantive...

   • 2016, Allen Ascher, The New Harbrace Guide: Genres for Composing

     Adjectives modify nouns.

Conjugation

Synonyms

• adapt, alter, amend, revamp, rework

Related terms

• modification

Derived terms

• modifier

Translations

References

• modify in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• modify in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• domify

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French modification, from Latin modificatio (“a measuring”), from modificare (“to limit, control, modify”); see modify.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?d?f??ke???n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?d?f??ke???n/
• Hyphenation: mod?i?fi?ca?tion
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

modification (countable and uncountable, plural modifications)

1. (obsolete, philosophy) The form of existence belonging to a particular object, entity etc.; a mode of being. [17th–19th c.]
   • 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Penguin 2004, p. 72:

     Pleasure is the business of woman's life, according to the present modification of society […].

2. (linguistics) the change undergone by a word when used in a construction (for instance am => 'm in I'm) [from 17th c.]
3. The result of modifying something; a new or changed form. [from 17th c.]
4. The act of making a change to something while keeping its essential character intact; an alteration or adjustment. [from 18th c.]
   • Jim's modification to the radio's tuning resulted in clearer sound.
5. (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.
6. (linguistics) a change to a word when it is borrowed by another language
   • The Chinese word "kòu tóu" had a modification made to become the English "kowtow".

Related terms

• modify
• modifier

Translations

Further reading

• modification in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• modification in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• domification

French

Etymology

From Latin modific?ti?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?.di.fi.ka.sj??/

Noun

modification f (plural modifications)

1. modification

   Synonyms: altération, transformation

Related terms

• modifiable
• modificateur
• modifier
• modifieur

Further reading

• “modification” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).