— modally , adv.
/mohd"l/ , adj.
1. of or pertaining to mode, manner, or form.
2. Music.
a. pertaining to mode, as distinguished from key.
b. based on a scale other than major or minor.
3. Also, single modal . Transp. pertaining to or suitable for transportation involving only one form of a carrier, as truck, rail, or ship. Cf. bimodal (def. 3), intermodal .
4. Gram. noting or pertaining to mood.
5. Philos. pertaining to a mode of a thing, as distinguished from one of its basic attributes or from its substance or matter.
6. Logic. exhibiting or expressing some phase of modality.
n.
7. See modal auxiliary .
[ 1560-70; modalis. See MODE 1 , -AL 1 ]