MODALITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does modality mean? 

• MODALITY (noun)
  The noun MODALITY has 4 senses:

1. a classification of propositions on the basis of whether they claim necessity or possibility or impossibility

2. verb inflections that express how the action or state is conceived by the speaker

3. a particular sense

4. a method of therapy that involves physical or electrical therapeutic treatment

  Familiarity information: MODALITY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MODALITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A classification of propositions on the basis of whether they claim necessity or possibility or impossibility

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

modality; mode

Hypernyms ("modality" is a kind of...):

logical relation (a relation between propositions)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Verb inflections that express how the action or state is conceived by the speaker

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

modality; mode; mood

Hypernyms ("modality" is a kind of...):

grammatical relation (a linguistic relation established by grammar)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "modality"):

common mood; declarative; declarative mood; fact mood; indicative; indicative mood (a mood (grammatically unmarked) that represents the act or state as an objective fact)

subjunctive; subjunctive mood (a mood that represents an act or state (not as a fact but) as contingent or possible)

optative; optative mood (a mood (as in Greek or Sanskrit) that expresses a wish or hope; expressed in English by modal verbs)

imperative; imperative form; imperative mood; jussive mood (a mood that expresses an intention to influence the listener's behavior)

interrogative; interrogative mood (some linguists consider interrogative sentences to constitute a mood)

Derivation:

modal (relating to or expressing the mood of a verb)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A particular sense

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

modality; sense modality; sensory system

Hypernyms ("modality" is a kind of...):

sensation; sense; sensory faculty; sentience; sentiency (the faculty through which the external world is apprehended)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "modality"):

sight; vision; visual modality; visual sense (the ability to see; the visual faculty)

somatosense (any of the sensory systems that mediate sensations of pressure and tickle and warmth and cold and vibration and limb position and limb movement and pain)

audition; auditory modality; auditory sense; hearing; sense of hearing (the ability to hear; the auditory faculty)

gustation; gustatory modality; sense of taste; taste (the faculty of distinguishing sweet, sour, bitter, and salty properties in the mouth)

olfaction; olfactory modality; sense of smell; smell (the faculty that enables us to distinguish scents)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A method of therapy that involves physical or electrical therapeutic treatment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("modality" is a kind of...):

intervention; treatment (care provided to improve a situation (especially medical procedures or applications that are intended to relieve illness or injury))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "modality"):

diathermy (a method of physical therapy that involves generating local heat in body tissues by high-frequency electromagnetic currents)

Holonyms ("modality" is a part of...):

physiatrics; physical therapy; physiotherapy (therapy that uses physical agents: exercise and massage and other modalities)

 Context examples 

A type of computed tomography whereby a low dose of X-ray modality is used to image certain organs i.e. the lungs.

(Low-Dose Spiral CT, NCI Thesaurus)

They can further be defined by their intended modality such as Ultrasound, Mammography, Computed Tomography (CT), etc.

(Imaging Phantoms, NCI Thesaurus)

Various treatment modalities that produce the desired therapeutic effect by means of change of hormone/hormones level.

(Endocrine therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

A mind-body modality is a type of complementary and alternative medicine.

(Mind-body modality, NCI Dictionary)

Use of two or more simultaneous or consecutive treatment modalities; e.g., surgery + radiation, or radiation + immunotherapy.

(Multimodality therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

A regimen is described as a distinctive collection of agent(s) and/or modalities to be utilized together during a cycle or course of therapy.

(Number of Prior Chemotherapies, NCI Thesaurus)

The confirmation (by other methods or modalities) that a tumor, which has not been previously seen or characterized, is present in the subject.

(New Tumor Confirmation, NCI Thesaurus)

NCI-sponsored program that promotes and supports clinical trials in cancer treatment, (largely combined modality approaches); cancer prevention, and early detection within setting of a Cooperative Group.

(Cooperative Group Program, NCI Thesaurus)

Results of two imaging modalities after a registration process is used to merge these.

(Fused Image, NCI Thesaurus)

Drug treatment to reduce the activity of cytokines, particulary to control inflammation in disease modalities.

(Anti-Cytokine Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)