modern

From Middle French moderne, from Late Latin modernus; from Latin modo (“just now”), originally ablative of modus (“measure”); hence, by measure, "just now". See also mode.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒd(ə)n/
• (General American) enPR: mŏdʹərn, IPA^(key): /ˈmɑdɚn/
• Rhymes: -ɒdə(ɹ)n
• Hyphenation: mod‧ern

• Audio (US):

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modern (comparative moderner or more modern, superlative modernest or most modern)

1. Pertaining to a current or recent time and style; not ancient.

   Our online interactive game is a modern approach to teaching about gum disease.  Although it was built in the 1600s, the building still has a very modern look.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

     But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […].

   • 1930 May 31, “The "Overhead Door" for Garage-Factory-Warehouse”, in The Saturday Evening Post‎^[1], volume 202, number 48, page 110:

     The "Overhead Door" is the garage door that can be opened or closed at a touch every day in the year—regardless of the weather. It is the garage door that opens UP Completely Out of the Way. In short, it is the modern door for the modern garage—in step with the times.

   • 2018 June 14, Timothy Snyder, “How Did the Nazis Gain Power in Germany?”, in The New York Times:

     In fact, he had created the conditions for the great horror of modern times.

   • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

     The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

2. (history) Pertaining to the modern period (c.1800 to contemporary times), particularly in academic historiography.

• (pertaining to current or recent time): contemporary, current; see also Thesaurus:present

• (antonym(s) of “pertaining to current or recent time”): ancient, dated, former, historical, old, old-fashioned; see also Thesaurus:past
• (antonym(s) of “pertaining to the modern period”): premodern

• moderne
• Modernisme
• modernus

modern (plural moderns)

1. Someone who lives in modern times.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

     The only supernatural agents which can in any manner be allowed to us moderns, are ghosts; but of these I would advise an author to be extremely sparing.

   • 1779, Edward Capell, John Collins, Notes and various readings to Shakespeare:

     What the moderns could mean by their suppression of the final couplet's repeatings, cannot be conceiv'd […]

   • 1930, G. K. Chesterton, The Resurrection of Rome:

     They at least had the immense and mighty imagination of which I speak; they could unthink the past. They could uncreate the Fall. With a reverence which moderns might think impudence, they could uncreate the Creation.

   • 1956, John Albert Wilson, The Culture of Ancient Egypt, page 144:

     Even though we moderns can never crawl inside the skin of the ancient and think and feel as he did […] we must as historians make the attempt.

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 181:

     Yeats understood these ancient mysteries better than any modern.

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “modern”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “modern”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• modern in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "modern" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 208.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “modern”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “modern”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “modern”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• Morden, Redmon, nerdom, normed, rodmen

Borrowed from Latin modernus.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [muˈðɛrn]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [moˈðɛrn]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [moˈðɛɾn]

modern (feminine moderna, masculine plural moderns, feminine plural modernes)

1. modern

• “modern”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “modern”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “modern” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “modern” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Middle French moderne, from Latin modernus.

• IPA^(key): /moːˈdɛrn/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: mo‧dern
• Rhymes: -ɛrn

modern (comparative moderner, superlative modernst)

1. modern
2. (historical, Protestantism) modernist

   Synonym: modernistisch

Declension of modern
uninflected	modern
inflected	moderne
comparative	moderner
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		modern	moderner	het modernst het modernste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	moderne	modernere	modernste
	n. sing.	modern	moderner	modernste
	plural	moderne	modernere	modernste
definite		moderne	modernere	modernste
partitive		moderns	moderners	—

• hypermodern
• moderniseren
• modernisme, modernist, moderniste
• moderniteit
• postmodern, postmodernisme, postmodernist, postmoderniste

• → Indonesian: modern
• → Papiamentu: modern (dated)

From Moder (“moldiness”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoːdɐn/

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -ɛʁn

modern (weak, third-person singular present modert, past tense moderte, past participle gemodert, auxiliary haben)

1. to rot, to molder

From French moderne, from Latin modernus.

• IPA^(key): /moˈdɛʁn/

• Audio:

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modern (strong nominative masculine singular moderner, comparative moderner, superlative am modernsten)

2. state-of-the-art

• Modernismus

• “modern (Verb)” in Duden online
• “modern (Adjektiv)” in Duden online
• “modern” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

From English modern and German modern, from French moderne, from Medieval Latin modernus.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈmodɛrn]

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: mo‧dern
• Rhymes: -ɛrn

modern (comparative modernebb, superlative legmodernebb)

1. modern

   Synonym: korszerű

• modern in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

• IPA^(key): /moˈtɛn/
• Rhymes: -ɛn
• Syllabification: mo‧dern

modern

1. modern

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

• moden (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore)
• moderen (nonstandard Indonesian)

From Dutch modern, from Middle French moderne, from Latin modernus, from modo (“just now”), originally ablative of modus (“measure”); hence, by measure, "just now". Doublet of mode, model, modul, and modus.

• IPA^(key): [moˈdɛr(ə̆)n]
• Hyphenation: mo‧dèrn

modèrn (comparative lebih modern, superlative paling modern)

1. modern

   Synonym: mutakhir

modèrn (plural modern-modern)

1. modern

• “modern” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Borrowed from French moderne.

• Audio:

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modern m or n (feminine singular modernă, masculine plural moderni, feminine and neuter plural moderne)

1. modern

• “modern”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

From French moderne, from Late Latin modernus.

• IPA^(key): /muˈdɛrn/, /moˈdɛrn/

• Audio:

  (file)

modern (comparative modernare, superlative modernast)

1. modern
2. in fashion

• omodern

• modernisera
• modernism
• modernistisk

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmuːdɛrn/

modern

1. definite singular of moder
2. definite singular of mor

• morden

From French moderne

• IPA^(key): /moˈdæɾn/

modern

1. modern

Borrowed from English modern.

modern (feminine singular modern, plural modern, equative mor fodern, comparative mwy modern, superlative mwyaf modern)

1. modern

• (recent): cyfoes, diweddar

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “modern”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies