# modification

Pronunciation: say "mod-i-fi-KAY-shuhn" US /ˌmɑdɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, UK /ˌmɒdɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/

## Noun

1. Altering or adjusting something while preserving its fundamental character, or a change made in this way.
   - Simple: The act of changing something a little without changing what it really is.
   - _The software update introduced a minor modification to the user interface._
   - _Engineers approved the modification after testing it carefully for safety._
2. A new or changed form that results from altering something.
   - Simple: A changed form of something that has been altered.
   - _The latest modification of the design added a folding handle._
   - _Each modification of the prototype brought it closer to the final product._
3. The change a word undergoes when used in a construction, such as 'am' becoming ''m' in 'I'm'.
   - Simple: A change in a word's form when it joins with others, such as 'am' shortening to ''m' in 'I'm'.
   - _The modification of 'going to' into 'gonna' reflects how rapid speech reshapes words._
   - _Linguists track each modification a pronoun undergoes when it attaches to a verb._
4. The change a word undergoes when it is borrowed into another language.
   - Simple: A change to a word that happens when another language borrows it.
   - _English speakers applied a modification to the German loanword, softening its harsher consonants._
   - _Each language gives a borrowed term its own modification to fit local speech._
5. A change to an organism caused by its environment that is not passed on to its offspring.
   - Simple: A change in a living thing caused by its surroundings that it cannot pass to its young.
   - _The fish developed a modification in body shape after years in colder water._
   - _Sun exposure produced a modification in skin tone that the man's children did not inherit._

## Noun

6. The particular form of existence belonging to an object or entity; a mode of being. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A particular way in which something exists, or its kind of being.
   - _To the old metaphysicians, a wave was merely a modification of the sea's substance._
   - _He described joy and grief as two modifications of one underlying spirit._

## Origin

Borrowed from Middle French modification, from Latin modificātiō ('a measuring'), which comes from modificāre ('to limit, control, modify').

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/modification (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).