modification
Pluralmodifications
- 1The act of changing something a little without changing what it really is.
Like changing one ingredient in a recipe but keeping the same dish.
The teacher made a small modification to the rules so everyone could play.
After some modification, the old bike worked like new.
Similarchange, alteration, adjustment, revision
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- 2
- 3A change in a word's form when it joins with others, such as 'am' shortening to ''m' in 'I'm'.
Like how 'I am' gets squished into 'I'm' when you talk fast.
In casual speech, the modification of 'do not' into 'don't' is normal.
Teachers explained the modification that turns 'I am' into 'I'm'.
Note
- 4A change to a word that happens when another language borrows it.
Like changing how you say a foreign friend's name so it fits your own language.
When Japanese borrowed the English word, the modification changed its sounds.
The modification of a borrowed word often makes it easier to pronounce.
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- 5A change in a living thing caused by its surroundings that it cannot pass to its young.
Like getting a suntan: your skin changes, but your baby is not born with it.
The plant's thicker leaves were a modification caused by the dry climate.
A modification from constant exercise, like stronger muscles, does not pass to a child.
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Less common meaning
- 6A particular way in which something exists, or its kind of being.
Like how ice and steam are different forms of the same water.
The philosopher held that thought was just one modification of the mind.
Each modification of the soul, he argued, was a different way of being.
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Practice
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Origin
It came from Latin modificātiō, meaning 'a measuring', through Middle French modification.