modulate

To regulate, adjust or adapt.

Verb

  1. To regulate, adjust or adapt.
    • "Can you tell?" she asked, in a trembling but well modulated and sensual voice. - 1980 April 19, Andrea Loewenstein, “Random Lust”, in Gay Community News, page 10:

    1. (transitive) To change the pitch, intensity or tone of one's voice or of a musical instrument.

    2. (transitive, electronics) To vary the amplitude, frequency or phase of a carrier wave in proportion to the amplitude etc of a source wave (such as speech or music).

    3. (intransitive, music) To move from one key or tonality to another, especially by using a chord progression.

Origin

From Latin modulor (“to measure, regulate, modulate”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix), from modulus (“measure”). Compare module, modulus. By surface analysis, modul(e) + -ate.

Forms

modulates modulating modulated

Related

demodulate modem modulation modulator module modulus

Derived

amplitude modulation AM angiomodulating chronomodulated comodulate downmodulate down-modulate frequency modulation FM immunomodulate immunomodulating intermodulate modulatable modulation modulative modulatory neuromodulate nonmodulated nonmodulating overmodulate phase modulation premodulate radiomodulated radiomodulating