polymodallyadv.
/ˌpɒlɪˈməʊdl̩i/, /ˌpɒlɪˈməʊdəli/, U.S. /ˌpɑliˈmoʊdl̩i/ 1. Music. By means of more than one mode (mode n. 1c). rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > [adverb]
programmatically1907
polymodally1929
polyrhythmically1946
minimalistically1976
1929 W. W. Cobbett Cycl. Surv. Chamber Music I. 45/2 A total of five major and five minor keys, representing polymodally six tonalities.
2. Statistics. With more than one mode (mode n. 13); in a polymodal manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [adverb] > other
factorially1935
stochastically1947
polymodally1959
pseudorandomly1963
1959 tr. W. Johannsen in J. A. Peters Classic Papers Genetics 26 Later publications will attempt to illuminate the activity of lines which vary polymodally.
1969 Amer. Econ. Rev. 59 212/1 The situation certainly becomes even more unpredictable when voter preferences are distributed polymodally.
1997 Ringing & Migration 18 37 Winglength and tail length measurements were polymodally distributed.
3. Physiology. By means of, involving, or with respect to more than one sensory or other neural modality.
ΚΠ
1985 Brain Res. 335 273/2 The intralaminar nuclei..may play a role in polymodally activating ‘association’ areas.
1988 Jrnl. Neurophysiol. 60 422 Responses to auditory or somatosensory stimulation were observed in this region only when very intense forms of ‘natural’ stimulation, or when electrical stimulation..was delivered. In this latter case, the same cells in several instances could be made to appear polymodally responsive.
1997 P. K. Kuhl & A. N. Meltzoff in M. Gopnik Inheritance & Innateness of Grammars 22 Our hypothesis is that speech representations..are polymodally mapped, that is, they are defined in such a way that multiple sensory and motor systems have access to them.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1929