modesty-bit 
modesty-bitt (modVs-li-liit ). n. Same as moil- 
i .^hf-jiii i-i . 
-m ile if yon will, young ladles: your great grandmothers 
wore law hoop*, peaked stoniarhi-rs, and madegty-bits. 
-n The Doctor, Ivl. (Davia.) 
modesty-piecet (mod'es-ti-pes), /'. See the 
quotation. 
A narrow loco . . . which runs along the upper part of 
thi-- stays ln-finr . . . lit'lug . . . a pnrt of the tucker, 
. . . is . . . culled the irwdesty-piece. 
Addaon, Guardian, No. 118. 
modicityt (mo-dis'j-ti), n. [< F. mo<licite = Pg. 
iiinilifiiliiili , < ML. nii>dicita(t-)s, moderateness, 
< \i. nmdicHx, moderate, < miiiliis. measure: set* 
modicum, mode 1 ."] Moderateness; meanness; 
littleness. Coti/nin. 
modicum (mod'i-kuiu), n. [< L. modicum, ueut. 
Hi iiioitiriix, moderate, small, lit. keeping within 
due measure, < modus, measure : see mode}.] 
1. A small or moderate quantity ; a scanty or 
meager allowance ; a limited amount or degree. 
Though nature weigh our talents, and dispense 
To every man hie modicum of sense. 
Cowper, Conversation, L 2. 
2. Any small thing; a diminutive person. 
Mare. Where are you, you modicum, you dwarf? 
.Wan'. Here, giantess, here. 
Maminyer, Duke of Milan, II. 
3t. Something eaten to provoke thirst. 
There was noboote to bid runnefor drams to drive down 
this undigested iitoddicombe. 
Armin, Nest of Ninnies (1808). (Sam.) 
l.iiy op>-ii all thy secrets and the mystical hleroglyphlck 
of rashers u' th' coales, nmdicumg, and shoving-hornes. 
DeUter, (lull's Hornbook (1609). 
modifiability (mod-i-fi-a-biri-ti), n. [< modi- 
fiable + -ity: see -liiliii/."] Capability or sus- 
ceptibility of being modified or varied, as in 
character, type, form, or function. 
Living matter once originated, there Is no necessity for 
another origination, since the hypothesis postulates the 
unlimited, though perhaps not indeflnite, modi/lability of 
such matter. //<>'/", Anat. Invert., p. 41. 
Other causes than those which are usual become con- 
ceivable ; other effects can be Imagined ; and henue there 
comes an increasing umtitinlriiily of opinion. 
//. Spencer, Prln. of Psychol., { 486. 
modifiable (mod'i-fi-u-bl), . [< F. modifiable, 
< L. as if "modificnbili.t,<. modificare, modify: 
see modify.'] Capable of being modified or va- 
ried; capable of being changed in character, 
type, form, or function. 
It appears to me more difficult to conceive a distinct 
visible image in the uniform unvariable essence of Oo<l 
than in variously modifiable matter. 
l.i'i-l..-. Examination of Malebranche. 
At the same time ... we clearly recognize the limits 
which separate what is modifiable from what is unmodl- 
flable. Q. U. Lemn, Probs. of Life and Mind, II. 28. 
modifiableness (mod'i-fi-a-bl-nes), . Modifi- 
ability. 
Buff on, who contended for the modifiableneis of species. 
Pop. Set. Mo., XXXIII. 117. 
modificablet (mod'i-(i-ka-bl), . [< L. as 
if "modificabilif, modifiable: see modifiable.] 
Same as modifiable. llailey. 
modificatet (mod'i-fi-kat), v. t. [< L. modifi- 
I'liliiy, pp. of modificare, moderate: see modify.] 
To qualify; modify. 
He [Christ] shall reign for ever and ever, not only to the 
modificated etemity of his mediatorship, . . . but also to 
the complete eternity of the duration of his humanity. 
Up. Pearson, The Creed, vi. 
modification (mod'i-fi-ka'shon). n. [< F. modi- 
li cation = Sp. modification = Pg. modificaqao 
== It. modificicionc, < \j. iiiodififiitio(n-), a mea- 
suring, < Hindi lifiin; limit, control, modify: see 
HI i ulify. ] 1 . Determination by a mode or qual- 
ity; qualification. 
The use hereof [of sense) being only to minister to the 
modification of life In the vital principle, wherein the es- 
sence of sense doth consist. 
A", (irrir, I'osmologia Sacra, ii. 3. 
2. The act or process of modifying or altering 
in character, form, or function ; the act or pro- 
cess of producing variation. 
Unity of type, maintained under extreme dissimilarities 
of form and mode of life, is explicable as resulting from 
descent with modification; but is otherwise inexplicable. 
U. SIKIIOV, Prin. of Biol., 8 13. 
3. Alteration or change : often specifically in 
the sense of abatement or reduction. 
The chief ... of all signes ... is Humane voice, and 
the several iiiiuliiii-iiti.'iix thereof by the Organs of Speech, 
vi/. the Letters'of the Alphabet, funned by the several 
Motions of the Mouth. Holder, Elem. of Speech p. n. 
For those progressive nn"{!ti<'(iti"its upon modifieatiant 
which organic evolution implies, we llnil a snlllcient cause 
In tin -us after iiiiiilificnti'uis \vlii.li rv.-n an 
viromnelit ovei- tin I.allll s Mil-face ha.- been undergoing, 
throughout all (.'enliiaie anil pre-^coloi-ie limes 
//. ,s>,,n,, hi:,. of Biol.. 109. 
3816 
4. Tin- result of variation or alteration; that 
which marks or shows variation of charm-It -t. 
form, or function; mode, form, or condition 
readied through process of change, or through 
bring modified. 
If It [the soulj be neither matter nor any modification 
of matter. Clarice, To Sir. bodswcll. 
The word modification U properly the bringing a thing 
Into a certain mode of existence, but it is very commonly 
employed for the mode of existence itself. 
sir 1C. Hamilton, Metapli MM. 
Kvery act of will for the control of the mental train, or 
for the apperception of an object of sense, through con- 
centrated attention, is denned by some particular mental 
state or modification upon which It Is directed. 
ii. T. Ladd, 1'hyslol. llychology, p. 587. 
5. tn Scots law, the determining of the amount 
of the stipend of the minister of a parish. This 
is fixed.by a decision of the Court of Teinds, 
called a decree of modification. 6. In music, 
same as ti-m/n i-nnn-iil. Latent mental modifica- 
tion, an unconscious activity of mind. Hamilton. Men- 
tal modification, a state of the mind. = Syn. change, al- 
teration, variation, qualillcatlon. 
modificative (mod'i-ti-ka-tiv), . [= F. modi- 
ficatif = Sp. Pg. It. moilificatiro ; as modificate 
'+ -ire.] That which modifies or serves to mod- 
ify or qualify. 
We may observe that the Spirit of Truth Itself, whore 
numbers and measures are concerned. In times, places, 
and persons, useth the aforesaid modificaticet ['almost" 
and " very nigh "J. Fuller, Worthies, I. xxL 
modificator (mod'i-ft-ka-tor), n. [< modificate 
+ -or.] A modifier. 
Nitrogen Is an agent distinctly sedative and anti-catar- 
rhal ; sulphuretted hydrogen, a modificator of the skin 
and of mucous membranes. Science, XIV. 318. 
modificatory (mod'i-fi-ka-to-ri), a. [< modifi- 
ed if + -ory.] Tending to modify or produce 
change in form or condition; modifying. 
A certain modificatory syllable. 
Whitney, Life and Growth of Lang., p. 131. 
modifier (mod'i-fi-er), n. One who or that which 
modifies. 
modify (mod'i-fi), r. t. ; pret. and pp. modijii-il, 
ppr. modifying. [< ME. modifien, < F. modifier 
= Sp. Pg. modificar It. modificare, < L. modi' 
jii'iirc, limit, control, regulate, deponent, modi- 
ficari, measure off, set bounds to, moderate, 
< modus, measure, + faeere, make : see mode 1 
and -fy.] 1. To qualify; especially, to mod- 
erate or reduce in extent or degree. 
Of his grace 
He modifia 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 "damnee in helL" 
Stubbt, 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 transmission 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 higtily 
modified crystal Is one showing a large number of different 
crystalline forms. 
The sixteenth statute doth me grete grevaunce, 
But ye must that relesse or modifie. 
Court of Low, L 1014. 
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 overwith one uniform col- 
our. X in-ill a. Opticks. 
Mmli/H Implies the continued existence of the subject- 
matter to bo 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 ex- 
istence, but only the power to change or vary In some par- 
ticular an already created or existing thing. 
State p. Laurence, 12 Oreg. 297. 
Thus I can understand how a flower and a bee might 
slowly become, either simultaneously or one after the oth- 
er, modified and adapted to each other In the most perfect 
manner, by the continued preservation of allthe Individu- 
als which presented slight deviations of structure mutu- 
ally favorable to each 
other. Danrin, Origin 
[of Species, p. 9s. 
Modified logic. See 
pure logic, under logic. 
modii, . Plural of 
modulant 
a modillion, < I .a mod>-l : 
1,1111 lii'i . inn' 1 1< I ii,-..] Ill OTOT., a l.lo.-k .-aned into 
the funn of an enrielied l>raeket, ii-ed normally 
under the eorona in llie comiei- of the Corin- 
tiiian and Composite, and oe,-a>ionally cif llie 
Koinau lonie, ordei-s, and in Renaissance and 
modern designs l.ased ii[ these, and also in 
appropriate forms in the \arioiiH medieval 
stvles; a corbel: a liraekii. Compare iiiiiliili. 
Also spelled iiiinlit/iiH. Angular modillion, a mo- 
ilillion at ilie leturii of a cornice, in the diagonal vertical 
plane passing through the anuli <-i mit.i ..i tin-. 1. 1 
Modiola (mo-di'o-lii;, n. |NI... < L. Hiiuliiiliix. 
a bucket on a water-wheel, nave of u wheel 
sei iinxliiiliin. ] 111 
muck., a common 
and well-known 
genus of mussels, 
of the family Sly- 
tilidw. much re- 
sembling Myti- l;orec . mussc , 
lug, but not hav- 
ing the umbones terminal: the horse-mussel*. 
M. modtola and M. plicatvla are abundant on European and 
American beaches. There are nitnicn.n*, others, some of 
great size, all resembling the common mussel. Also Ho- 
modilicht, <'< A 
Middle English 
form of moiMlily. 
modillion (mo-dil'- 
yon), n. [<OF. ni- 
\\i\\nt\. iniidiiiliitii. F. 
IIIKlliUllll = Sp. Illll- 
''<''"" = I'K- '"'"''- 
Illltn, < It.lllllllil/lllllic, 
Romannque Mi.lillKKi. 
Church o( Ccllc I --irvl, France. 
modiolar (mo-<li'o-liir), . [= F. modiolaire; a 
niodiiiliiH + -'/r 3 .J Satin- as iiiiiilinliform. 
modioli, " Plural of iiiiliuliix, 1. 
modiolifonn (mo-*li'o-li-form), a. [< L. modi- 
olus, a bucket on a water-wheel, a nave (see 
iinxliiilux and NL. .Modiolu), + forma, form.] 
1. Shaped like the nave of a wheel; barrel- 
shaped. 2. In concli.. resembling a mussel of 
the genus Hfodiola; mvtiliform or mytiloid. 
3. liesembliug a modiolux; columelliform or 
columellar. 
modiolns (mo-di'6-lus), n. [NL., < L. modiolue, 
a bucket on a water-wheel, nave of a wheel, a 
trepan (ML. dim. of modius, a mtasure(of grain), 
a peck, also the socket of a wheel), < modus, 
measure: see mode 1 .] 1. PI. modioli (-11). In 
tinat., the columella cochlea' or central pillar 
around which the cochlear lamina winds in a 
spiral like a staircase. 2. [rap.] In conch., 
same as Mndiola. Lnmarek, 1799. Central ca- 
nal Of the modiolus. SeecnnaJl. 
modish (mo'dish), a. [< mode 1 + -tsfc 1 .] Ac- 
cording to the mode or customary manner or 
style; fashionable; stylish: often used with a 
suggestion of contempt. [Obsolescent.] 
Tls not modih to know Relations in Town. 
Congrcve, Way of the World, III. 16. 
A nurse in a modish Paris cap. Html, .Miss Kilinansegg. 
This [two young ladies in white evening dresses], as a 
modith portrait, has much merit, the drawing of the faces 
being admirable, and much delicate and unobtrusive skill 
being lavished on the rendering of the stuffs and orna- 
ments. The Academy, May 25, 188D. 
modishly (mo'dish-li), adr. In a modish or 
fashionable manner. 
modishness (mo'dish-nes), n. The quality of 
being modish ; stylishness ; fashionableness. 
modist (mo'dist), . [< mudel + -ist.] A fol- 
lower of the mode or fashion. 
modiste (mo-desf), . [F. (= Sp. Pg. It. mo- 
disla), a milliner, < mode, mode, fashion: see 
mode 1 .] A woman who deals in articles of fash- 
ion, particularly in women's apparel ; a milliner 
or dressmaker. 
They [the English! may make good colonists, sailors, and 
mechanics; but they do not make good singers, dancers, 
actors, artistes, or module*. Smile*. Character, pi 288. 
modius (mo'di-us), M. ; pi. modii (-1). [L. mo- 
dius (> Or. fi6A/of), a dry measure (see def. 1), a 
vessel of this capacity, < modus, measure: see 
model.] 1. A Roman dry measure, one third 
of the amphora, containing about HJ liters or 
550 cubic inches, and thus equal to nearly . 
English gallons. 2. In classical art, a head- 
dress of high cylindrical form. approaching that 
of modius, the measure of capacity (see def. 1). 
worn typically by certain divinities. See cut 
on following page. 
modiwartt, ". Same as moldtcarp. 
Modot (mo do), n. [Appar. a made name. Cf. 
Miilm.] The prince of darkness: the fiend. 
The prince of darkness is a gentleman : Sfodo he's called, 
and Malm. Shot., Lear, lit 4. 149. 
Modoc whistle. See tcl<ixti<-. 
modo et forma (mo'do et for'mji). [L.: mmio, 
abl. of Hioduti, manner; et. and; forma, abl. of 
forma, form: see mnilc^ and form.] In man- 
ner and form : a phrase used in old Latin law- 
pleadings. 
modoqua (mod'ft-kwf), . Same as madnqna. 
modulant (mod'u-lant). ii. [< L. modulant t-)s, 
ppr. of modular!, modulate: see modulnte.] 
