Other forms: modules
A module is one self-contained part of something larger. Six weeks on statistics, then six on research methods — a university course is built out of modules, each one taught and marked on its own.
The adjective is modular, and it means built from standard units that fit together: a modular sofa, modular housing, a modular degree. Engineers and builders love the idea, because a module can be swapped out without pulling the whole thing apart. Spacecraft are the famous case — the command module and the lunar module of Apollo 11 separated in orbit and joined up again. In programming, a module is a file of code you import wherever you need it, which is the same idea in text. One difference to watch: a British university calls these teaching units modules, while an American one calls them courses, and keeps 'program' or 'major' for the whole degree.
1nounteachingA unit of teaching that forms one part of a course and is assessed on its own.
“She failed one module and retook it in the summer.”
2nouncomponentA standard part designed to combine with others to make a larger whole.
“The shelving comes as modules you bolt together.”
3nounmoduleIn computing, a separate unit of code that other programs can load and use.
“Import the module at the top of the file.”
4nounselfA self-contained section of a spacecraft that can work or separate on its own.
“The lunar module touched down with seconds of fuel left.”
module is a unit of a larger whole.
Module came through French from Latin modulus, 'a small measure', the little brother of modus, 'measure'. English helped itself to that same Latin word twice more: modulus in mathematics, and mould, the shape you pour things into. A module is a small measured piece, which is why it fits so neatly beside the others.
French
module
English, today
module
Built from
Borrowed from French module. French module, from Latin modulus (“a small measure, a measure, mode, meter”), diminutive of modus (“measure”) (whence mode). a doublet of modulus and mold.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA