-ˌlāt, usu -ād.+V verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Latin modulatus, past participle of modulari to measure, modulate, from modulus small measure, meter, melody, module, from modus measure + -ulus — more at mete
transitive verb
1. : intone , sing
modulate a prayer
modulate a song
2.
a. : to tune to a key or pitch : vary in tone : make tuneful or pleasing in sound
the radio engineers do not try to modulate his voice — Current Biography
did not scream or roar … she was old enough to modulate her voice and conserve her energies — John Mason Brown
b. : to adjust to or keep in proper measure or proportion : soften or tone down : temper
modulated his thunders according to the tree, shrub, or weed to be blasted — T.S.Eliot
the humor is either modulated or relegated to the background — Marc Slonim
3. : to vary a characteristic (as amplitude, frequency, phase) of (a carrier wave or signal) in a periodic or intermittent manner for the transmission of intelligence
intransitive verb
1. : to play or sing with modulation
2.
a. : to pass by regular chord progression from one musical key or tonality into another or from one mode to another
b. : to pass by regular melodic progression from one key to another
3. : to pass gradually from one state to another
had a fierce quality that had modulated, but not softened, to authority — Lionel Trilling