modification

plural modifications

1. countableobsoleteuncountableScots lawThe act of assessing and prescribing a payment, penalty, price, valuation, etc.First known use 15th–19th c.

   Mekle Kindeass 2 b. 1 f. and £3 12s 1d . . . . and whatever augmentation . . be ye lords commissioners . . . . for modificaton of stipends and plantation of kirks . . . .

   1633, “No. 64, 1633.—Paper, well preserved, with Bishop’s and other signatures.”, in W[illiam] Macgill, compiler, Old Ross-shire and Scotland as Seen in the Tain and Balnagown Documents, Inverness: Northern Counties Newspaper and Printing and Publishing Company, published 1909, →OCLC, pages 33–34

   2 more examples

   Wherein his highnes commandement is, that a graue, wiſe, ⁊ ſage man, ſhalbe appointed pꝛeſident, who may haue yͤ ouerſight of theſe boũds, ⁊ be anſwerable therefoꝛe to the biſhop, his coũſell ⁊ ſynode, ⁊ he to be reſpected reaſonably foꝛ his paines, at the modification of ſtipends: […]

   1585, Treason Pretended against the King of Scots, […], London: […] Thomas Nelson, […], →OCLC, page 19

   When the decree of modification is pronounced, the Teind Court, at the same time, remits to the junior Lord Ordinary to prepare a scheme of locality; i. e. an allocation of the modified stipend on the several heritors or others liable therefor; […]

   1838, William Bell, “Augmentation, Process of”, in A Dictionary and Digest of the Law of Scotland, […], Edinburgh: John Anderson, […] Bell & Bradfute, […]; London: Saunders & Benning, →OCLC, page 75

2. countableobsoleteuncountablehuman sciencesThe form of existence belonging to a particular object, entity etc.; a mode of being.First known use 17th–19th c.

   Pleasure is the business of woman's life, according to the present modification of society […]

   1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC

3. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe change undergone by a word when used in a construction.First known use 17th c.
4. countableuncountableThe result of modifying something; a new or changed form.First known use 17th c.
5. countableuncountableThe act of making a change to something while keeping its essential character intact; an alteration or adjustment.First known use 18th c.

   behavior modification officer

   1 more example

   Jim's modification to the radio's tuning resulted in clearer sound.

6. countableuncountablebiologyA change to an organism as a result of its environment that is not transmissible to offspring.First known use 19th c.

   Due to his sunbathing, Jim's body experienced modifications: he got a tan.

7. countableuncountablehuman sciencesA change to a word when it is borrowed by another language.

   The Chinese word kòutóu had a modification made to become the English kowtow.