From Late Latin 'modernus' (of now), from 'modo' (just now), from 'modus' (measure) — a 1,500-year-old word for 'current.'
Relating to the present or recent times as opposed to the remote past; characteristic of current styles, methods, or ideas.
From Late Latin 'modernus' (of the present time, modern), from Latin 'modo' (just now, recently), ablative of 'modus' (measure, manner), from PIE *med- (to take appropriate measures, to measure). The Late Latin coinage 'modernus' first appeared in the sixth century CE, attributed to Cassiodorus, who used it to distinguish contemporary events from those of antiquity. The word was formed
The word 'modern' was coined in the sixth century CE by the Roman senator Cassiodorus, making it about 1,500 years old — which means 'modern' is itself decidedly ancient. The irony deepens when we note that historians call the period from 1500 onward the 'Modern Era,' using a sixth-century word to name a sixteenth-century concept.