modulation

Noun

1. Modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; (countable) an instance of this.
   • More ouer the emperours that were moſte noble⸝ delited in daunſyng⸝ perceyuing ther in to be a perfecte meaſure⸝ which maye be called modulation: wherin ſome daunſers of olde tyme ſo wonderfully excelled⸝ that they...
   • Theſe [minerals] have not yet been vvell reduced, or the number of the ſimple original ones rightly fixt; ſome, vvhich are only Compounds, the Matter of tvvo or more kinds being mix'd together, and, by the different...
   • There was a touching modulation in these words about her father that Walter understood too well. - 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Walter Goes Away”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […],...

   1. (art, uncountable) Variation (especially softening or toning down) of brightness, form, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.

      • […] I ſhall endeavour to point out and regularly deſcribe a certain order and arrangement in their [shades or shadows'] appearance, in vvhich order vve may conceive different kinds of ſoftnings and modulations of the...

   2. (biology, uncountable) Variation in the activity or form of a cell in response to changes in the environment; (countable) an instance of this.

   3. (engineering, physics, uncountable) Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: modification of an electromagnetic wave or other oscillating carrier wave to apply a signal to it; (countable) an instance of this; also, the extent to which such a wave is modified; and the modified wave or signal.

      • Modulation is the process in which information is encoded in radio signals. Modulation describes changing an aspect of the wave. There are two main types of radio modulation: amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency...

   4. (music) (uncountable) Variation of the intensity, pitch, and tone of the sound of a musical instrument or voice; inflection; (countable) an instance of this.

      • [A]lthough the vveazon, throtle and tongue [of birds] be the inſtruments of voice, and by their agitations doe chiefly concurre unto theſe delightfull modulations, yet cannot vve aſſigne the cauſe unto any particular...
      • The Rings of the VVind-pipe, are fitted for the Modulation of the Voice. - 1701, Nehemiah Grew, “Of the Use of Organized Bodies”, in Cosmologia Sacra: Or A Discourse of the Universe as It is the Creature and Kingdom of...
      • So much indeed vvas he faſcinated by the voice, that a moſt painful curioſity vvas excited as to her countenance, vvhich he fancied muſt expreſs all the ſenſibility of character that the modulation of her tones...

   5. (music) (uncountable) Changing of the key in a piece of music; also, the effect achieved by this as an element of harmony; (countable) an instance of this.

      • More interesting still the modulations, not merely from one key to another, but from mood to mood. A theme is stated, then developed, pushed out of shape, imperceptibly deformed, until, though still recognizably the...

   6. (typography, uncountable) The quality of a typeface of having contrasting, thick and thin parts of the strokes; stroke-width variation.

      • Garamond has much modulation, while Helvetica has very little.
2. Changing of a thing from one form to another; (countable) an instance of this.
3. Harmonious use of language in poetry or prose.
   • Then begin the arts of rhetoric and poetry, the regulation of figures, the ſelection of vvords, the modulation of periods, the graces of tranſition, the complication of cauſes, and all the delicacies of ſtyle, and...
4. Modification of the parts of a classical Greek or Roman building to achieve appropriate proportions by measuring in modules (“standard units of measure, usually the diameter or radius of a column at the base of a shaft”).
   • About Theatres, ſaith He [Vitruvius], are Porticoes, and VValks, vvhich appear ought to be ſo placed, as they muſt be double. And have the outvvard Columns Dorick vvith Architraves, and Ornaments made from the rule of...
5. Any of the musical notes in ecclesiastical modes of music on which a melodic phrase had to begin and end.
6. Arrangement or composition, or performance, of music in a certain key or mode; also (countable) a series of musical notes, chord, or tune analyzed according to a key or mode.
7. Making music or singing; (countable) a melody, a tune; also (chiefly in the plural), a musical note.
   • I will sing of thy mercy and judgment, says David; when we fix ourselves upon the meditation and modulation of the mercy of God, even his judgments cannot put us out of tune, but we shall sing and be cheerful even in...
   • Join'd to Theſe [birds], / Thouſands beſide, thick as the covering Leaves / VVhich ſpeck them o'er, their Modulations mix / Mellifluous. - 1728, [James] Thomson, Spring. A Poem, […] A[ndrew] Millar, […]; and G[eorge]...
   • Sleep during this interval was out of the question: […] the songs of Hoel and Cyveilioc, to ring to the profaner but more lively modulation of Voulez vous danser, Mademoiselle? [Do you want to dance, miss?] in...