modern

English Online Dictionary. What means modern‎? What does modern mean?

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

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

1. Pertaining to a current or recent time and style; not ancient.
2. (history) Pertaining to the modern period (c.1800 to contemporary times), particularly in academic historiography.

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

• (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

Derived terms

Related terms

• moderne
• Modernisme
• modernus

Translations

Noun

modern (plural moderns)

1. Someone who lives in modern times.

References

• 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.

Anagrams

• Morden, Redmon, nerdom, normed, rodmen

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

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

1. modern

Derived terms

Further reading

• “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], 2007 April
• “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.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French moderne, from Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moːˈdɛrn/
• Hyphenation: mo‧dern
• Rhymes: -ɛrn

Adjective

modern (comparative moderner, superlative modernst)

1. modern
2. (historical, Protestantism) modernist

   Synonym: modernistisch

Declension

Derived terms

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

Descendants

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

German

Etymology 1

From Moder (“moldiness”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoːdɐn/
• Rhymes: -ɛʁn

Verb

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

1. to rot, to molder

Conjugation

Etymology 2

From French moderne, from Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈdɛʁn/

Adjective

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

1. modern
2. state-of-the-art

Declension

Derived terms

• Modernismus

Further reading

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

Hungarian

Etymology

From English modern and German modern, from French moderne, from Medieval Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmodɛrn]
• Hyphenation: mo‧dern
• Rhymes: -ɛrn

Adjective

modern (comparative modernebb, superlative legmodernebb)

1. modern

   Synonym: korszerű

Declension

References

Further reading

• 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.

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

modern

1. modern

Declension

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Indonesian

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

modèrn (comparative lebih modern, superlative paling modern)

1. modern

   Synonym: mutakhir

Noun

modèrn (plural modern-modern)

1. modern

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “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.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French moderne.

Pronunciation

Adjective

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

1. modern

Declension

Related terms

Further reading

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

Swedish

Etymology 1

From French moderne, from Late Latin modernus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /muˈdɛrn/, /moˈdɛrn/

Adjective

modern (comparative modernare, superlative modernast)

1. modern
2. in fashion

Declension

Antonyms

• omodern

Related terms

• modernisera
• modernism
• modernistisk

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmuːdɛrn/

Noun

modern

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

Anagrams

• morden

Turkish

Etymology

From French moderne

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈdæɾn/

Adjective

modern

1. modern

Declension

Welsh

Etymology

Borrowed from English modern.

Adjective

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

1. modern

Synonyms

• (recent): cyfoes, diweddar

Derived terms

Mutation

Further reading

• 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