mode

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

mode, n. [L. modus a measure, due or proper measure, bound, manner, form; akin to E. mete: cf. F. mode. See Mete, and cf. Commodious, Mood in grammar, Modus.].

•  Manner of doing or being; method; form; fashion; custom; way; style; as, the mode of speaking; the mode of dressing.  [1913 Webster]

  "The duty of itself being resolved on, the mode of doing it may easily be found."  [1913 Webster]

  "A table richly spread in regal mode."  [1913 Webster]
•  Prevailing popular custom; fashion, especially in the phrase the mode.  [1913 Webster]

  "The easy, apathetic graces of a man of the mode."  [1913 Webster]
•  Variety; gradation; degree.  Pope.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any combination of qualities or relations, considered apart from the substance to which they belong, and treated as entities; more generally, condition, or state of being; manner or form of arrangement or manifestation; form, as opposed to matter.  [1913 Webster]

  "Modes I call such complex ideas, which, however compounded, contain not in them the supposition of subsisting by themselves, but are considered as dependencies on, or affections of, substances."  [1913 Webster]
•  The form in which the proposition connects the predicate and subject, whether by simple, contingent, or necessary assertion; the form of the syllogism, as determined by the quantity and quality of the constituent proposition; mood.  [1913 Webster]
•  Same as Mood.  [1913 Webster]
•  The scale as affected by the various positions in it of the minor intervals; as, the Dorian mode, the Ionic mode, etc., of ancient Greek music.  [1913 Webster]

  " In modern music, only the major and the minor mode, of whatever key, are recognized."  [1913 Webster]
•  A kind of silk. See Alamode, n.  [1913 Webster]
•  the value of the variable in a frequency distribution or probability distribution, at which the probability or frequency has a maximum. The maximum may be local or global. Distributions with only one such maximum are called unimodal; with two maxima, bimodal, and with more than two, multimodal.  [PJC]

Syn. -- Method; manner. See Method.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

mode, n.
1 a way or manner in which a thing is done; a method of procedure.
2 a prevailing fashion or custom.
3 Computing a way of operating or using a system (print mode).
4 Statistics the value that occurs most frequently in a given set of data.
5 Mus. a each of the scale systems that result when the white notes of the piano are played consecutively over an octave (Lydian mode). b each of the two main modern scale systems, the major and minor (minor mode).
6 Logic a the character of a modal proposition. b = MOOD(2).
7 Physics any of the distinct kinds or patterns of vibration of an oscillating system.
8 US Gram. = MOOD(2).

Etymology

F mode and L modus measure

THESAURUS

mode

Aeolian mode, Aristotelian sorites, Dorian mode, Goclenian sorites, Greek modes, Hindu mode, Indian mode, Locrian mode, Lydian mode, MO, Phrygian mode, Platonic form, Platonic idea, SOP, aesthetic form, affectation, algorithm, approach, archetype, art form, attack, authentic mode, bearings, bon ton, build, case, cast, categorical syllogism, chic, circumstance, command of language, complexion, condition, conditional, configuration, conformation, convention, course, craze, cry, custom, cut, dilemma, enthymeme, estate, exaggeration, expression of ideas, fad, fashion, feeling for words, figuration, figure, fix, footing, form, form of speech, format, formation, frame, furore, genre, grace of expression, grandiloquence, guise, haute couture, high fashion, hypoaeolian mode, hypodorian mode, hypoionian mode, hypolocrian mode, hypolydian mode, hypomixolydian mode, hypophrygian mode, imperative, impression, indicative, inflation, inner form, jam, jussive, layout, line, line of action, lines, literary style, location, look, lot, major mode, make, makeup, manner, manner of speaking, manner of working, mannerism, matrix, means, method, methodology, minor mode, mixolydian mode, modality, mode of expression, mode of operation, mode of procedure, model, modus, modus operandi, modus tollens, mold, mood, obligative, octave species, optative, order, paralogism, pass, pattern, peculiarity, permissive, personal style, pickle, place, plagal mode, plight, position, posture, potential, practice, predicament, prevailing taste, procedure, proceeding, process, proper thing, prosyllogism, prototype, pseudosyllogism, raga, rage, rank, rhetoric, routine, rule, rule of deduction, sense of language, set, set-up, shape, significant form, situation, sorites, spot, stamp, standard operating procedure, standing, state, station, status, strain, stream of fashion, structure, style, stylistic analysis, stylistics, subjunctive, swim, syllogism, system, tack, technique, tenor, the drill, the grand style, the how, the plain style, the sublime, the way of, tone, trend, trick, turn, type, vein, vogue, way, wise

ROGET THESAURUS

mode

Habit

N habit, habitude, assuetude, assuefaction, wont, run, way, common state of things, general state of things, natural state of things, ordinary state of things, ordinary course of things, ordinary run of things, matter of course, beaten path, beaten track, beaten ground, prescription, custom, use, usage, immemorial usage, practice, prevalence, observance, conventionalism, conventionality, mode, fashion, vogue, etiquette, order of the day, cry, conformity, consuetude, dustoor, one's old way, old school, veteris vestigia flammae, laudator temporis acti, rule, standing order, precedent, routine, red-tape, red-tapism, pipe clay, rut, groove, cacoethes, bad habit, confirmed habit, inveterate habit, intrinsic habit, addiction, trick, training, seasoning, second nature, acclimatization, knack, habitual, accustomary, prescriptive, accustomed, of daily occurrence, of everyday occurrence, consuetudinary, wonted, usual, general, ordinary, common, frequent, everyday, household, garden variety, jog, trot, well-trodden, well-known, familiar, vernacular, trite, commonplace, conventional, regular, set, stock, established, stereotyped, prevailing, prevalent, current, received, acknowledged, recognized, accredited, of course, admitted, understood, conformable, according to use, according to custom, according to routine, in vogue, in fashion, in, with it, fashionable, wont, used to, given to, addicted to, attuned to, habituated, in the habit of, habitue, at home in, seasoned, imbued with, devoted to, wedded to, hackneyed, fixed, rooted, deep-rooted, ingrafted, permanent, inveterate, besetting, naturalized, ingrained, habitually, always, as usual, as is one's wont, as things go, as the world goes, as the sparks fly upwards, more suo, more solito, ex more, as a rule, for the most part, usually, generally, typically, most often, most frequently, cela s'entend, abeunt studia in mores, adeo in teneris consuescere multum est, consuetudo quasi altera natura, hoc erat in more majorum, How use doth breed a habit in a man!, magna est vis consuetudinis, morent fecerat usus.

Method

N method, way, manner, wise, gait, form, mode, fashion, tone, guise, modus operandi, MO, procedure, path, road, route, course, line of way, line of road, trajectory, orbit, track, beat, tack, steps, stair, staircase, flight of stairs, ladder, stile, perron, bridge, footbridge, viaduct, pontoon, steppingstone, plank, gangway, drawbridge, pass, ford, ferry, tunnel, pipe, door, gateway, channel, passage, avenue, means of access, approach, adit, artery, lane, loan, alley, aisle, lobby, corridor, back-door, back-stairs, secret passage, covert way, vennel, roadway, pathway, stairway, express, thoroughfare, highway, turnpike, freeway, royal road, coach road, broad highway, King's highway, Queen's highway, beaten track, beaten path, horse road, bridle road, bridle track, bridle path, walk, trottoir, footpath, pavement, flags, sidewalk, crossroad, byroad, bypath, byway, cut, short cut carrefour, private road, occupation road, highways and byways, railroad, railway, tram road, tramway, towpath, causeway, canal, street, speedway, adv, how, in what way, in what manner, by what mode, so, in this way, after this fashion, one way or another, anyhow, somehow or other, by way of, via, in transitu, on the high road to, hae tibi erunt artes.

State

N state, condition, category, estate, lot, ease, trim, mood, pickle, plight, temper, aspect, dilemma, pass, predicament, constitution, habitude, diathesis, frame, fabric, stamp, set, fit, mold, mould, mode, modality, schesis, form, tone, tenor, turn, trim, guise, fashion, light, complexion, style, character, conditional, modal, formal, structural, organic, conditionally, as the matter stands, as things are, such being the case.

Mean

N mean, average, median, mode, balance, medium, mediocrity, generality, golden mean middle, compromise, middle course, middle state, neutrality, mediocrity, least common denominator, mean, intermediate, middle, average, neutral, mediocre, middle-class, commonplace, on an average, in the long run, taking one with another, taking all things together, taking it for all in all, communibus annis, in round numbers, medium tenuere beati.

Fashion

N fashion, style, ton, bon ton, society, good society, polite society, monde, drawing-room, civilized life, civilization, town, beau monde, high life, court, world, fashionable world, gay world, Vanity Fair, show, manners, breeding, air, demeanor, savoir faire, gentlemanliness, gentility, decorum, propriety, biens_eance, conventions of society, Mrs, Grundy, punctilio, form, formality, etiquette, point of etiquette, dress, custom, mode, vogue, go, rage, prevailing taste, fad, trend, bandwagon, furore, thing, in thing, craze, chic, last word, man of fashion, woman of fashion, man of the world, woman of the world, height of fashion, pink of fashion, star of fashion, glass of fashion, leader of fashion, arbiter elegantiarum, the beautiful people, the fashion set, upper ten thousand, elite, smart set, the four hundred, in crowd, fashionable, in fashion, a la mode, comme il faut, admitted in society, admissible in society, presentable, conventional, genteel, well-bred, well mannered, well behaved, well spoken, gentlemanlike, gentlemanly, ladylike, civil, polite, polished, refined, thoroughbred, courtly, distingue, unembarrassed, degage, janty, jaunty, dashing, fast, modish, stylish, chic, trendy, recherche, newfangled, all the rage, all the go, with it, in, faddish, in court, in full dress, in evening dress, en grande tenue, fashionably, for fashion's sake, a la francaise, a la parisienne, a l' anglaise, a l' americaine, autre temps autre mauers, chaque pays a sa guise.