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modify

verb
SayMO-di-fy/ˈmɑdɪfaɪ/UK/ˈmɒdɪfaɪ/

Formsmodifies, modifying, modified

4 meanings of modify

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To change a part of something, altering some details while leaving the rest as it was.

    The engineers modified the engine to reduce fuel consumption.

    We can modify the contract before either side signs it.

    Similaralter, change, adjust, adapt, amend

  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To restrict or add detail to the meaning of another word in a sentence.

    Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs.

    The word "red" modifies "car" in the phrase "red car."

    Similarqualify

    Note

    A grammarian's verb, and its subject is usually a kind of word: adjectives modify nouns, adverbs modify verbs. The relation runs one way, since the modifying word depends on the one it describes. Linda R. Waugh's A Semantic Analysis of Word Order (1977) uses the verb for two adjectives that modify one noun equally, with no hierarchy between them. The matching noun for the relation is modification.

  3. 3
    verbintransitive
    To undergo change; to be or become altered.

    Languages modify gradually as speakers pick up new habits.

    The original design modified over several years of testing.

    Similarchange, evolve, alter

  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To set limits on something; to make it more moderate.

    The judge modified the sentence to reflect the unusual circumstances.

    Good leaders modify their demands when the situation calls for restraint.

    Similartemper, moderate, soften, reduce

    Note

    Here the word stays closest to its Latin roots. Modificari meant "to measure off, set bound to, moderate", built from modus, "measure" (the root behind mode), and facere, "to make". To modify in this sense is to make something keep to a measure: a demand, a penalty or a claim is scaled back rather than rebuilt. Unlike the everyday "change part of" sense, the change here is one of degree.

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Origin

From Middle English modifien, from Middle French modifier, from Latin modificare ("to limit, control, regulate"), built from modus ("measure") plus facere ("to make").