Etymology

modern

mod·ern
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Today it means: Pertaining to a current or recent time and style; not ancient. Full definition →

Middle French moderne ← Late Latin modernus ← Latin modo
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frommodo“just now”
  2. Late Latin · derived frommodernus
  3. Middle French · derived frommoderne
  4. English todaymodern

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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.