Dictionary:

mode

  (mōd)

1. 1. A manner, way, or method of doing or acting: modern modes of travel. See synonyms at method.
   2. A particular form, variety, or manner: a mode of expression.
   3. A given condition of functioning; a status: The spacecraft was in its recovery mode.
2. The current or customary fashion or style. See synonyms at fashion.
3. Music.
   1. Any of certain fixed arrangements of the diatonic tones of an octave, as the major and minor scales of Western music.
   2. A patterned arrangement, as the one characteristic of the music of classical Greece or the medieval Christian Church.
4. Philosophy. The particular appearance, form, or manner in which an underlying substance, or a permanent aspect or attribute of it, is manifested.
5. Logic.
   1. See modality (sense 3).
   2. The arrangement or order of the propositions in a syllogism according to both quality and quantity.
6. Statistics. The value or item occurring most frequently in a series of observations or statistical data.
7. Mathematics. The number or range of numbers in a set that occurs the most frequently.
8. Geology. The mineral composition of a sample of igneous rock.
9. Physics. Any of numerous patterns of wave motion or vibration.
10. Grammar. Mood.

[Middle English, tune, from Latin modus, manner, tune. Sense 2, French, from Old French, fashion, manner, from Latin modus.]

A statistical term referring to the most frequently occurring term in a set of numbers.

Investopedia Says:
For example, in the following set of data--32, 34, 34, 34, 45, 67, 71, 43--the mode is 34 because it is the most common number in the set .

1. Statistical value equal to the most frequent value in a series of

values. For example, the mode of 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 7 is 4. When evaluating product preferences reported by a panel of consumers, the mode is a more meaningful measure of preference than the mean. Assume, for example, that in a test of three muffins 20 out of 40 consumers prefer the taste (i.e., the amount of sugar) of muffin 1, and the other 20 consumers prefer the taste of muffin 3. By calculating the mean ( (20 3 1 • 20 3 3) /40 5 2), you would arrive at the false conclusion that the amount of sugar in muffin 2 is preferred. Calculation of the mode provides the correct conclusion that muffins 1 and 3 have equal appeal but that muffin 2 does not appeal to anyone.

2. Highest point in a bar graph or histogram.

3. Operating environment of a computer, such as off-line/on-line, batch and so forth.

1. Manner of existing or acting; way, method, or form. An example is a company that has a particular mode of operation that employees are expected to follow.

2. Statistics: the most commonly occurring value in a data set. Normally the mode is presented in a graphical format illustrating the common occurrence. It is extremely useful when making graphical presentations regarding data occurrences.

noun

1. The approach used to do something: fashion, manner, method, modus operandi, style, system, way, wise². See means.
2. A distinctive way of expressing oneself: fashion, manner, style, tone, vein. See style/good style/bad style.
3. Manner of being or form of existence: condition, situation, state, status. See be.
4. The current custom: craze, fad, fashion, furor, rage, style, trend, vogue. Informal thing. Idioms: the in thing, the last word, the latest thing. See style/good style/bad style, usual/unusual.

[common] A general state, usually used with an adjective describing the state. Use of the word ‘mode’ rather than ‘state’ implies that the state is extended over time, and probably also that some activity characteristic of that state is being carried out. “No time to hack; I'm in thesis mode.” In its jargon sense, ‘mode’ is most often attributed to people, though it is sometimes applied to programs and inanimate objects. In particular, see hack mode, day mode, night mode, demo mode, fireworks mode, and yoyo mode; also talk mode.

One also often hears the verbs enable and disable used in connection with jargon modes. Thus, for example, a sillier way of saying “I'm going to crash” is “I'm going to enable crash mode now”. One might also hear a request to “disable flame mode, please”.

In a usage much closer to techspeak, a mode is a special state that certain user interfaces must pass into in order to perform certain functions. For example, in order to insert characters into a document in the Unix editor vi, one must type the “i” key, which invokes the “Insert” command. The effect of this command is to put vi into “insert mode”, in which typing the “i” key has a quite different effect (to wit, it inserts an “i” into the document). One must then hit another special key, “ESC”, in order to leave “insert mode”. Nowadays, modeful interfaces are generally considered losing but survive in quite a few widely used tools built in less enlightened times.

For more information on mode, visit Britannica.com.

In statistics, the most frequently appearing value in a set of numbers or data points. In the numbers 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 4, 9, 6, 8, and 6, the mode is 6, because it appears more often than any of the other figures. (See average; compare mean and median.)

Click here to submit an acronym.

A scale pattern consisting of set intervals of whole and half steps. The primary modes are Aeolian, Dorian, Ionian, Locrian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and Phrygian.

Tutor's tip: A sit-atop mower is the best "mode" (manner of doing something) by which this type of grass is "mowed" (past tense of mow, to cut down grass).

Mode may mean:

• Mode (literature)
• Mode (statistics), the value that has the largest number of observations
• Musical mode, a kind of scale
• Mode (computer interface), distinct method of operation within a computer program, in which the same user input can produce different results depending of the state of the computer
• Grammatical mood
• Normal mode, patterns of vibration in acoustics, electromagnetic theory, etc,
  • Longitudinal mode
  • Transverse mode
• Transport mode, a means of transportation
• Fashion

Popular culture

• Mode Records, a record label
• MODE Magazine, a now out-of-print US women's fashion magazine created specifically to feature fashions over a US size 14 with a Vogue magazine-like creative aesthetic; see plus-size model
• Mode, a fictional fashion magazine which is the setting for the ABC series Ugly Betty

See also

• Mod
• Modal
• Modality

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - måde, arbejdsmåde, operationsform, modus

Nederlands (Dutch)
wijs, gebruik, modus, toonaard, stemming, modaliteit, soort

Français (French)
n. - mode, façon, type, méthode, mode (d'équipement), humeur, (Mus) mode, (Stat) mode

Deutsch (German)
n. - Art, Weise, Methode, (Comp.) Betriebsart, Mode, (Mus.) Tonart, Modus, statistischer Mittelwert

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τρόπος, μόδα, μέθοδος, τεχνοτροπία, (μουσ.) τρόπος, κλίμακα, (Η/Υ) λειτουργία, επιλογή, διάταξη

Italiano (Italian)
maniera, modo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - modo, moda

Русский (Russian)
метод, образ действий, форма, вид, обычай, наклонение, тональность

Español (Spanish)
n. - modo, manera, forma, moda, boga, estilo, costumbre

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - sätt, bruk, tonart, modus, modalitet, typvärde

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
模态, 样式, 模式

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 模態, 樣式, 模式

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 형식, 양식

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 方法, 様式, 流儀, 論式, 現われ方, 様態, 旋法, 音階, モード, 並数, 流行, はやり

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) طراز, طرز, نمط‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אופנה, אופן, סגנון, תהליך, צורה, סולם-קולות, מודוס‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.