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Webster 1913 Edition

Modern

Mod′ern

,
Adj.
[F.
moderne
, L.
modernus
; akin to
modo
just now, orig. abl. of
modus
measure; hence, by measure, just now. See
Mode
.]
1.
Of or pertaining to the present time, or time not long past; late; not ancient or remote in past time; of recent period;
as,
modern
days, ages, or time;
modern
authors;
modern
fashions;
modern
taste;
modern
practice.
Bacon.
2.
New and common; trite; commonplace.
[Obs.]
We have our philosophical persons, to make
modern
and familiar, things supernatural and causeless.
Shakespeare
Modern English
.
See the Note under
English
.

Mod′ern

,
Noun.
A person of modern times; – opposed to
ancient
.
Pope.

Webster 1828 Edition

Modern

MOD'ERN

,
Adj.
[L. modo, and ern, which we find in other Latin words that have reference to time, as in hodiernus, hesternus.]
1.
Pertaining to the present time, or time not long past; late; recent; not ancient or remote in past time; as modern days, ages or time; modern authors; modern fashions; modern taste; modern practice.
2.
Common; mean; vulgar. [Not used.]

Definition 2024

modern

modern

English

Adjective

modern ‎(comparative moderner or more modern, superlative modernest or most modern)

  1. Pertaining to a current or recent time and style; not ancient.
    Our online interactive game is a modern approach to teaching about gum disease.  Although it was built in the 1600s, the building still has a very modern look.‎
    • 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher, chapter1:
      But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […].
    • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
      The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.
  2. (historical) Pertaining to the modern period (c.1800 to contemporary times), particularly in academic historiography.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

modern ‎(plural moderns)

  1. Someone who lives in modern times.
    • 1779, Edward Capell, John Collins, Notes and various readings to Shakespeare
      What the moderns could mean by their suppression of the final couplet's repeatings, cannot be conceiv'd […]
    • 1956, John Albert Wilson, The Culture of Ancient Egypt (page 144)
      Even though we moderns can never crawl inside the skin of the ancient and think and feel as he did […] we must as historians make the attempt.
  2. The modern time.
    • 2016, Professor of European Literature Ben Hutchinson, Dr, Lateness and Modern European Literature
      This sense that the modern can be understood as that which attempts to demarcate itself from the past—but which in doing so binds itself to this past—resonates through to the modernism of the early twentieth century.

References

  • modern in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • “modern” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: direction · o' · eight · #839: modern · medium · ill · eat

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

Latin modernus

Adjective

modern m ‎(feminine moderna, masculine plural moderns, feminine plural modernes)

  1. modern

Derived terms

German

Etymology 1

From Moder ‎(“moldiness”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈmoːdɐn]

Verb

modern ‎(third-person singular simple present modert, past tense moderte, past participle gemodert, auxiliary haben)

  1. to rot, to molder
Conjugation

Etymology 2

From French, from Latin.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [moˈdɛʁn]

Adjective

modern ‎(comparative moderner, superlative am modernsten)

  1. modern
Declension
Comparative forms of modern
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist moderner sie ist moderner es ist moderner sie sind moderner
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative modernerer modernere moderneres modernere
genitive moderneren modernerer moderneren modernerer
dative modernerem modernerer modernerem moderneren
accusative moderneren modernere moderneres modernere
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der modernere die modernere das modernere die moderneren
genitive des moderneren der moderneren des moderneren der moderneren
dative dem moderneren der moderneren dem moderneren den moderneren
accusative den moderneren die modernere das modernere die moderneren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein modernerer eine modernere ein moderneres (keine) moderneren
genitive eines moderneren einer moderneren eines moderneren (keiner) moderneren
dative einem moderneren einer moderneren einem moderneren (keinen) moderneren
accusative einen moderneren eine modernere ein moderneres (keine) moderneren

Hungarian

Etymology

From English modern and German modern, from French moderne, from Medieval Latin modernus.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈmodɛrn]
  • Hyphenation: mo‧dern

Adjective

modern (comparative modernebb, superlative legmodernebb)

  1. modern

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
singular plural
nominative modern modernek
accusative modernet moderneket
dative modernnek moderneknek
instrumental modernnel modernekkel
causal-final modernért modernekért
translative modernné modernekké
terminative modernig modernekig
essive-formal modernként modernekként
essive-modal — —
inessive modernben modernekben
superessive modernen moderneken
adessive modernnél moderneknél
illative modernbe modernekbe
sublative modernre modernekre
allative modernhez modernekhez
elative modernből modernekből
delative modernről modernekről
ablative moderntől modernektől

References

  1. ↑ Tótfalusi István, Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára. Tinta Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 2005, ISBN 963 7094 20 2

Swedish

Etymology

From French moderne, from Late Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

modern (comparative modernare, superlative modernast)

  1. modern; pertaining to current style

Declension

Inflection of modern
Indefinite/attributive Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular modern modernare modernast
Neuter singular modernt modernare modernast
Plural moderna modernare modernast
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 moderne modernare modernaste
All moderna modernare modernaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in an attributive role.

Related terms

Noun

modern

  1. definite singular of moder
  2. definite singular of mor

Etymology

From Middle French moderne, from Late Latin modernus; from Latin modo ‎(“just now”), originally ablative of modus ‎(“measure”); hence, by measure, "just now". See also mode.

Pronunciation

Similar Results