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Origin and history of mode

mode(n.1)

"manner;" late 14c., "melodies, strains of music" (a sense now obsolete; see musical senses below), from Old French mode and directly from Latin modus "measure, extent, quantity; proper measure, rhythm, song; a way, manner, fashion, style" (in Late Latin also "mood" in grammar and logic), from PIE root *med- "take appropriate measures."

Meaning "manner of acting or doing, was in which a thing is done" is by 1660s. Sense of "inflectional category in conjugation" is mid-15c. In music, 1670s as "method of dividing the intervals of the octave for melodic purposes" in reference to ancient Greek music; by 1721 in reference to modern music.

mode(n.2)

"current fashion, prevailing style," 1640s, from French mode "manner, fashion, style" (15c.), a specialized use of the French word that also yielded mode (n.1).

also from 1640s

Entries linking to mode

a la mode(adv.)

also alamode, 1640s, from French à la mode (15c.), literally "in the (prevailing) fashion" (see a la + mode (n.2)). In 17c., sometimes nativized as all-a-mode. Cookery sense in reference to a dessert served with ice cream is 1903, American English; earlier it was used of a kind of beef stew or soup (1753).

modish(adj.)

"fashionable, stylish," often with a hint of contempt, 1650s, from mode (n.2) + -ish. "Very common in 17-18 c.; now somewhat arch[aic]." [OED]. Related: Modishly; modishness.

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mood
"emotional condition, state of mind as regards passion or feeling," c. 1300, from Old English mod "heart, frame of mind, spirit; courage, arrogance, pride; power, violence" (also used to translate Latin animus, mens), from Proto-Germanic *mōda- (source also of Old Saxon mod "mind
manner
c. 1200, manere, "kind, sort, variety," from Anglo-French manere, Old French maniere "fashion, method, manner, way; appearance, bearing; custom" (12c., Modern French manière), from Vulgar Latin *manaria (source of Spanish manera, Portuguese maneira, Italian maniera), from fem. of
style
early 14c., stile, "writing instrument, pen, stylus; piece of written discourse, a narrative, treatise;" also "characteristic rhetorical mode of an author, manner or mode of expression," and "way of life, manner, behavior, conduct." This is from Old French stile, estile "style, f
modal
"pertaining to or affected by a mode," 1560s, originally a term in logic, from French modal and directly from Medieval Latin...modalis "of or pertaining to a mode," from Latin modus "measure, extent, quantity; proper measure, rhythm, song; a way,...
conjunctive
The conjunctive mode (Late Latin coniunctivus modus) is the mode which follows a conditional conjunction or expresses contingency...
dissipation
Sense of "act of wasting by misuse, wasteful expenditure or consumption" is from 1630s; meaning "intemperate mode of living...
condition
mid-14c., condicioun, "particular mode of being of a person or thing," also "a requisite or prerequisite, a stipulation,"...The sense evolution in Latin apparently was from "stipulation" to "situation, mode of being."...
norm
"a standard, pattern, or model," 1821 (Coleridge), from French norme, from Latin norma "carpenter's square, rule, pattern," a word of unknown origin. Klein suggests a borrowing (via Etruscan) of Greek gnōmōn "carpenter's square." The Latin form of the word, norma, was used in Eng
morn
"the first part of the day, the morning," late 14c., contracted from Middle English morwen, morghen, from Old English (Mercian) margen (dative marne), earlier morgen (dative morgne) "morning, forenoon, sunrise," from Proto-Germanic *murgana- "morning" (source also of Old Saxon mo
way
Old English weg "road, path; course of travel; room, space, freedom of movement;" also, figuratively, "course of life" especially, in plural, "habits of life" as regards moral, ethical, or spiritual choices, from Proto-Germanic *wega- "course of travel, way" (source also of Old S

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