A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1499-1580
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Modulatio(u)n, -cio(u)n, n. Also: modelatioun. [ME. modulacion (Trevisa), -cyone, e.m.E. modulation, F. modulation (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), L. modulātio.] a. The making of music with due measure or variation of tone or pitch; melodious music-making. b. The observing of due measure or proportion in music or musical variation. —a. a1500 Henr. Orph. 39 (Ch. & M.).
The secund maide namyt Melpomene As hony suete in modulacion [v.rr. modvlacioun, modelatioun] 1501 Doug. Pal. Hon. 499.
In modulatioun hard I play and sing Faburdoun, pricksang, discant, countering 1501 Ib. 863.
Terpsichore … Makis on psalteris modulatiounb. c1550-c1580 Art of Music i.
Music mensurall … is discretion of modulatioun and forme in discrait figuris in mud, tyme and prolatioun quantificat c1550-c1580 Ib. 5.
The pausis of semequaweris ar nocht nottit with modulation vsit quhairfor we leiff thame ondiscrywit c1550-c1580 Ib. 32.
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"Modulation n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/modulatioun>
