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modulation.

Modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; (countable) an instance of this.

10 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˌmɒdjʊˈleɪʃn̩/Received-Pronunciation/-d͡ʒʊ-/Received-Pronunciation/ˌmɑd͡ʒəˈleɪʃən/General-American
  1. Modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
  2. Modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; (countable) an instance of this. Variation (especially softening or toning down) of brightness, form, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
  3. Modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; (countable) an instance of this. Variation in the activity or form of a cell in response to changes in the environment; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
  4. Modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; (countable) an instance of this. Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: modification of an electromagnetic wave or other oscillating carrier wave to apply a signal to it; (countable) an instance of this; also, the extent to which such a wave is modified; and the modified wave or signal.

    uncountable
  5. Modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; (countable) an instance of this. Variation of the intensity, pitch, and tone of the sound of a musical instrument or voice; inflection; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
  6. Modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; (countable) an instance of this. Changing of the key in a piece of music; also, the effect achieved by this as an element of harmony; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
  7. Modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; (countable) an instance of this. The quality of a typeface of having contrasting, thick and thin parts of the strokes; stroke-width variation.

    uncountable
    Garamond has much modulation, while Helvetica has very little.
  8. Changing of a thing from one form to another; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
  9. Harmonious use of language in poetry or prose.

    obsolete · uncountable
  10. Modification of the parts of a classical Greek or Roman building to achieve appropriate proportions by measuring in modules (“standard units of measure, usually the diameter or radius of a column at the base of a shaft”).

    obsolete · rare · uncountable
  11. Any of the musical notes in ecclesiastical modes of music on which a melodic phrase had to begin and end.

    countable · obsolete
  12. Arrangement or composition, or performance, of music in a certain key or mode; also (countable) a series of musical notes, chord, or tune analyzed according to a key or mode.

    obsolete · uncountable
  13. Making music or singing; (countable) a melody, a tune; also (chiefly in the plural), a musical note.

    obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Late Middle English modulacion, modulacioun (“act of making music or singing; harmony; melody, song”), from Middle French modulation (modern French modulation), and directly from its etymon Latin modulātiō (“regular or rhythmical measure, modulation; inflection of tone; (architecture) calculation of measurements from a standard unit; (Late Latin) act of making music or singing; melody, song”), from modulātus (“modulated”) + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs). Modulātus is a perfect participle of modulor (“to beat time; to make music or sing; to measure; etc.”), from modulus (“rhythmical measure, interval; rhythm; small interval or measure, etc.”) + -or (suffix forming certain inflections of verbs); and modulus is from modus (“measure; method; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure; etc.”)) + -ulus (diminutive suffix). By surface analysis, modulat(e) + -ion (suffix denoting an action or process, or its result).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.