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Alteration vs Modification - What's the difference?

alteration | modification |

As nouns the difference between alteration and modification

is that alteration is the act of altering or making different while modification is the act or result of modifying or the condition of being modified.

alteration

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The act of altering or making different.
  • * 1594 , , Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity ,
  • alteration , though it be from worse to better, hath in it inconveniences…
  • The state of being altered; a change made in the form or nature of a thing; changed condition.
  • * 1892 , ,
  • …and I saw by the alteration in your face that a train of thought had been started.
    (Webster 1913)

    References

    *

    modification

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • the act or result of modifying or the condition of being modified
  • an alteration or adjustment to something
  • * Jim's modification to the radio's tuning resulted in clearer sound.
  • a change to an organism as a result of its environment that is not transmissable to offspring
  • * Due to his sunbathing, Jim's body experienced modifications : he got a tan.
  • (linguistics) a change to a word when it is borrowed by another language
  • * The Chinese word "kòu tóu" had a modification made to become the English "kowtow" .
  • (linguistics) the change undergone by a word when used in a construction (for instance am'' => '' 'm'' in ''I'm )