Skip to main content
modem

modem

45 3.5
A device that connects a computer to the internet or other networks
  • noun
  • /ˈmoʊdɛm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : módem
  • The modem allows us to send data over telephone lines quickly.
  • computer modem
  • cable modem
  • modem access

Cisco was selling high speed modems and products in a dial up era.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The robot can be equipped with a radio modem that communicates with a base unit in the hospital.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Third, it had to connect easily to my computer for fax and modem communications.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Here, she could write and send her work by modem to any point on earth.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The next step was to link them through a modem for competition with one another.

    Academic text (1990)
  • I had to reset the modem the other day.

  • We got a modem line hooked up with the data base in New York.

  • Then when it goes from your modem to the Internet, it encrypts.

  • Access to Econet requires a computer, a telephone fine, a modem, and a subscription fee.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Cisco was selling high speed modems and products in a dial up era.

  • Many of us live in a world of computers, modems, call waiting, TVs, and VCRs.

    Academic text (1998)

Synonyms

acoustic modem
vsmodem
  • Archaic
6.1

A device that changes digital signals into sounds and back so data can be sent over a phone line

is a general data communication device for many channels not only telephone tones

Antonyms

1 7.1

A person, device, or program that stops something from working

Compounds

acoustic modem
  • Archaic
6.1

A device that changes digital signals into sounds and back so data can be sent over a phone line

How Fast

broadband
  • Texting
45 2.8
modem
  • Specialized
45 3.5
dial-up
  • Archaic
1 3.5

Surface Forms

modem singular
modems plural

Morphology

modem = modulator + demodulator (semi-transparent) = modulator + demodulator

Formally a contraction of 'modulator' + 'demodulator' so the composition is clear, but the meaning is specialized and may not be obvious to average learners.

Etymology

Modem is a short form of modulator-demodulator. A modulator 'changes' computer data into sounds that can travel on a telephone line and a demodulator 'changes' those sounds back, so a modem is like a 'translator' that lets a computer send and receive information over telephone lines.