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Definition of "modal" []

  • Of, relating to, or characteristic of a mode. (adjective)
  • Grammar Of, relating to, or expressing the mood of a verb. (adjective)
  • Music Of, relating to, characteristic of, or composed in any of the modes typical of medieval church music. (adjective)
  • Philosophy Of or relating to mode without referring to substance. (adjective)
  • Logic Expressing or characterized by modality. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "modal" in a sentence
  • "According to the modal analogue, a cat or a person or a table would be a ˜transworld individual™ with ˜modal parts™ in different possible worlds, and not wholly present in any of them.)"
  • "Hence the term modal jazz, which is used to describe the music on "Kind of Blue.""
  • "I agree with you and deeply disagree with what you call modal realism, because I do not believe that mathematical objects and systems exist, in anything like the same meaning of existence that the physical universe exists."