modification (mod"ifikashon)

[F. modi fication = Sp. modificacion = Pg. modificação = It. mod if i caz i one, The use hereof [of sense] being only to minister to the modification of life in the vital principle, wherein the e ence of sense doth consist. N. Grew, Cosmologia Sacra, ii. 3. 2. The act or proce of modifying or altering in character, form, or function; the act or proce of producing variation. Unity of type, maintained under extreme di imilarities of form and mode of life, is explicable as resulting from descent with modification ; but is otherwise inexplicable. H. Spencer , Prin. of Biol., § 136. 3. Alteration or change: often specifically in the sense of abatement or reduction. IMG:content-0814.png:[blocks in formation] Fuller, Worthies, I. xxi. is anti-catarScience, XIV. 318. rhaitroiphurettent distinctly sedative and in the a in and of mucous membranes. modificatory (mod'i-fi-ka-to-ri), a. [ modifies. Whitney, Life and Growth of Lang., p. 131. modifier (mod'i-fi-er), n. One who or that which modify (mod'i-fi), v . t .; pret. and pp. modified , ppr. modifying . [ modifien , F. modifier =Sp. Pg. mod if i car = It. mod if i care, He modifies his first severe decree. Dryden. Morton, at once archbishop and chancellor, allowed his judgment on a fraudulent executor to be modified by the reflexion that he would be "damnée in hell." Stubbs , Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 317. 2. To change the properties, form, or function of; give a new form to; alter slightly or not very much; vary: as, to modify the terms of a contract; a prefix modifies the sense of a word; light is modified by its transmi ion through certain media. In crystallography one crystalline form is said to modify another when the two occur together in the same crystal, the modified form predominating; thus, the cube may be modified by the trapezohedron. A highly modified crystal is one showing a large number of different crystalline forms. IMG:content-0815.jpg:[blocks in formation] The middle part of the broad beam of white light which fell upon the paper did, without any confine of shadow to modify it, become coloured all over with one uniform col Newton, Opticks. our. Modify implies the continued existence of the subject matter to be modified, but with some change or qualifica tion in form or qualities without touching the mode of creation. It implies no power to create or bring into existence, but only the power to change or vary in some particular an already created or existing thing. State v. Lawrence, 12 Oreg. 297. Thus I can understand how a flower and a bee might slowly become, either simultaneously or one after the other, modified and adapted to each other in the most perfect manner, by the continued preservation of all the individuals which presented slight deviations of structure mutually favorable to each other. Darwin , Origin [of Species, p. 98. Modified logic. See pure logic , under logic . Plural of modii, n. modius . modilicht, adv . A Middle English form of moodily . modillion (mộ-dil'yon), n . [OF. mo dill on, modiglion , F. modillon = Sp. mo dill on = Pg. modi lhão , It.modiglione , Romanesque Modillion. Church of Celle (Loire), France. modulant a modillion, conch., a common and well-known genus of mu els, of the family My tilida, much resembling Mytilus, but not having the umbones terminal; the horse-mu els. M. modiola and M. plicatula are abundant on European and American beaches. There are numerous others, some of great size, all resembling the common mu el. Also Mo modiolar (mō-di'ō-lär), a. [= F.modiolaire; as modiolus +-ar3.] Same as modioli form. modioli, n. Plural of modiolus, 1. Horse-mu el ( Modiola lithophaga). diol us. modioli form (mō-dī'ō-li-form), a. [L. modi olus, a bucket on a water-wheel, a nave (see modiolus and NL. Modiola ), + form a, form.] 1. Shaped like the nave of a wheel; barrel shaped.-2. In conch., resembling a mu el of the genus Modiola; mytiliform or mytiloid.jus 3. Resembling a modiolus; columelliform or columellar.