modification
n.-
1 an adjustment or change (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatea small change made to something to improve it or make it more suitable.
the act of making a minor alteration or adjustment to something while keeping its essential character intact.
ExampleThe engineers made a slight modification to the engine to help it use less fuel.
ExampleThe architect suggested a minor modification to the original floor plan to allow for more natural light in the central hallway.
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2 grammar/linguistics (n.) C1 Advanced Academic Technical Sciencethe way a word's meaning is changed or limited by another word.
the structural relationship where one word or phrase limits or qualifies the meaning of another.
ExampleIn the phrase 'red apple', the word 'red' is a modification of 'apple'.
ExampleThe student struggled with noun modification, often placing the adjective after the noun instead of before it.
UsageIn linguistics, this refers to the relationship between a head and its dependents.
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3 biological change (n.) C1 Advanced Technical Sciencea change in a living thing caused by its environment that is not passed on to its babies.
a non-heritable change in an organism's phenotype resulting from environmental influence.
ExampleThe plant's smaller leaves were a modification caused by the dry soil, not its genes.
ExampleBiologists distinguish between genetic mutations and environmental modifications that do not alter the underlying DNA sequence of the species.
From Middle English modificatioune, from Middle French modification and its etymon Latin modificātiō (“a measuring”), from modificāre (“to limit, control, modify”); see modify. By surface analysis, modify + -ication.