Dictionary

module en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɔd͡ʒʉːl/ (Australia)
• /ˈmɒdjuːl/ no yod-coalescence
• /ˈmɒd͡ʒul/ (Canada, dialectal) of the US
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈmɒd͡ʒuːl/ yod-coalescence
• /ˈmɑd͡ʒul/ (Atlantic-Canada, General-American)

Etymology

Borrowed from French module, from Latin modulus (“a small measure, a measure, mode, meter”), diminutive of modus (“measure”) (whence mode). Doublet of modulus and mold.

Meanings

1. A self-contained component of a system, often interchangeable, which has a well-defined interface to the other components.
   • A friend who’s spent decades as an auto mechanic recently confided that he’s grateful to be nearing retirement. “These Teslas,” he told me, “they’re not even cars anymore – they’re computers on wheels. When something goes wrong, you don’t fix it; you just replace entire modules.” What was once a craft that any dedicated person could learn has become an exercise in supervised dependency. 2025 February 11, Joshua Stylman, “How to Forge the Spectator Class”, in Brownstone Journal:
2. A standard unit of measure used for determining the proportions of a building.
3. A section of a program; a subroutine or group of subroutines.
   • When there is more than one protected module in memory, the rules for accessing the code and data sections of a given module treat all the other modules as if they were unprotected memory. 2013, Helmut Reimer, Norbert Pohlmann, Wolfgang Schneider, ISSE 2013 Securing Electronic Business Processes, page 244:
   • Class modules are similar to form modules except they do not have a visible interface (GUI). 2001, Phil Jones, Visual Basic: A Complete Course, page 254:
4. A unit of education covering a single topic.
   • Which modules are you studying next year?
5. A pre-prepared adventure scenario with related materials for a role-playing game.
   • Dragonborn […] first appeared in the Dragons of Despair module (1984) for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as “dragonmen.” 2011, Michael J. Tresca, The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games, page 81:
6. (qualifier:ring theory) An abelian group equipped with the operation of multiplication by an element of a ring (or another of certain algebraic objects), representing a generalisation of the concept of vector space with scalar multiplication.
   • One defines in like manner right K-modules and two-sided K-modules. If K is commutative, then every left K-module is automatically equipped with the structure of right and a two-sided K-module. 2012, A. A. Kirillov, Elements of the Theory of Representations, Springer, page 29:
   • Approximately forty-five years ago K. Morita presented the first major results on equivalences and dualities between categories of modules over a pair of rings. 2004, Robert R. Colby, Kent R. Fuller, Equivalence and Duality for Module Categories (with Tilting and Cotilting for Rings), Cambridge University Press, page vii:
   • Modules over a ring are a generalization of abelian groups (which are modules over #92;textstyle#92;mathbb#123;Z#125;). 1974, Thomas W. Hungerford, Algebra, Springer, page 168:
7. (qualifier:fractal geometry) A fractal element.
8. A file containing a music sequence that can be played in a tracker.
   • I composed a number of techno and rave modules back in the 1990s.
9. A contrivance for regulating the supply of water from an irrigation channel.
10. An independent self-contained unit of a spacecraft.

Forms

Deriveds

modularised · bimodule · modulation · body control module · R-module · hypermodule · e-module · intermodule · cryomodule · semimodule · modular · modulize · supermodule · intramodule · podule · modulate · nanomodule · submodule · Clifford module · noetherian module · modularize · modularise · modulator · command and service module · module pattern · lunar module · module theory · moduled · comodule · load module · cyclic module · monogenous module · cryptomodule · multimodule · supramodule · modularized · glycomodule · modulization · contramodule · modulus · minimodule · micromodule · Noetherian module · vertical lift module

Hyponyms

injective module (algebraic structure) · command module · projective module (algebraic structure) · vector space (algebraic structure) · lunar module · free module (algebraic structure)

Meronyms

element

Relateds

mode · model · modulus · moderate

Synonyms

mod

Translations (91)

tl modyul (unit of education) · fi musiikkimoduuli (file containing a music sequence) · be мо́дуль (section of a program) · ml ഘടകം (section of a program) · fa-ira مُدول (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · ro modul (unit of education) · fr module (astronautics: independent self-contained unit of a spacecraft) · fa-ira ماژول (section of a program) · ml ഘടകം (self-contained component of a system) · ro modul (astronautics: independent self-contained unit of a spacecraft) · ko 모듈 (self-contained component of a system) · ar وَحْدَة (self-contained component of a system) · fi opintomoduuli (unit of education) · mi kōwae (section of a program) · fi moduuli (self-contained component of a system) · fi moduuli (section of a program) · pt módulo (self-contained component of a system) · fr module (architecture: standard unit of measure for determining the proportions of a building) · ca mòdul (self-contained component of a system) · sv modul (unit of education) · fr module (unit of education) · ro modul (architecture: standard unit of measure for determining the proportions of a building) · mk модул (section of a program) · pal hngwšydg (self-contained component of a system) · cmn 模塊 /模块 (self-contained component of a system) · ro modul (section of a program) · vi mô-đun (self-contained component of a system) · th มอดูล (self-contained component of a system) · fi moduuli (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · uk мо́дуль (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · be мо́дуль (self-contained component of a system) · ru мо́дуль (self-contained component of a system) · ru мо́дуль (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · fi moduulimitta (architecture: standard unit of measure for determining the proportions of a building) · sv modul (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · ru мо́дуль (section of a program) · hy մոդուլ (self-contained component of a system) · uk мо́дуль (self-contained component of a system) · be мо́дуль (astronautics: independent self-contained unit of a spacecraft) · cmn 模 (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · fi moduuli (astronautics: independent self-contained unit of a spacecraft) · es módulo (self-contained component of a system) · hi मॉड्यूल (self-contained component of a system) · de Modul (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · cmn 模塊 /模块 (section of a program) · pt módulo (section of a program) · be мо́дуль (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · fr module (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · de Modul (self-contained component of a system) · de Modul (section of a program) · bg мо́дул (self-contained component of a system) · fi ohjelmamoduuli (section of a program) · sk modul (self-contained component of a system) · pl moduł (self-contained component of a system) · sv modul (section of a program) · uk мо́дуль (astronautics: independent self-contained unit of a spacecraft) · pt módulo (architecture: standard unit of measure for determining the proportions of a building) · th โมดูล (self-contained component of a system) · ja 加群 (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · vi bộ phận rời (self-contained component of a system) · fr module (pre-prepared adventure scenario for a role-playing game) · nl module (self-contained component of a system) · mi kōwae (self-contained component of a system) · el δομοστοιχείο (self-contained component of a system) · fi moduuli (unit of education) · ko 가군 (type of algebraic structure, generalization of vector spaces over non-field rings) · vi phần chương trình (section of a program) · he מוֹדוּל (self-contained component of a system) · fi moduuli (pre-prepared adventure scenario for a role-playing game) · ro modul (self-contained component of a system) · sv modul (self-contained component of a system) · fa-ira ماژول (self-contained component of a system) · ru мо́дуль (unit of education) · de Modul (unit of education) · de Modul (astronautics: independent self-contained unit of a spacecraft) · fa-ira پودْمان (self-contained component of a system) · mi kōwae (unit of education) · fr module (section of a program) · ru мо́дуль (pre-prepared adventure scenario for a role-playing game) · ru мо́дуль (astronautics: independent self-contained unit of a spacecraft) · tr modül (section of a program) · uk мо́дуль (architecture: standard unit of measure for determining the proportions of a building) · ka მოდული (self-contained component of a system) · uk мо́дуль (section of a program) · ja モジュール (self-contained component of a system) · fr module (self-contained component of a system) · bg мо́дул (section of a program) · cs modul (self-contained component of a system) · tr modül (self-contained component of a system) · tl modyul (architecture: standard unit of measure for determining the proportions of a building) · fa-ira پودْمان (section of a program)