Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Modulation

Mod′u·la′tion (·lā′shŭn), n. [L. modulatio: cf. F. modulation.] 1. The act of modulating, or the state of being modulated; as, the modulation of the voice.

2. Sound modulated; melody. [R.] Thomson.

3. (Mus.) A change of key, whether transient, or until the music becomes established in the new key; a shifting of the tonality of a piece, so that the harmonies all center upon a new keynote or tonic; the art of transition out of the original key into one nearly related, and so on, it may be, by successive changes, into a key quite remote. There are also sudden and unprepared modulations.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article.