module
noun
[ ˈmɒdjuːl ]
• each of a set of standardized parts or independent units that can be used to construct a more complex structure, such as an item of furniture or a building.
• "ships are now built in modules rather than built in a whole from the base up"
• a detachable self-contained unit of a spacecraft.
• "Spacelab, an extra module for the shuttle, will quadruple the experimental facilities on board"
Origin:
late 16th century (in the senses ‘allotted scale’ and ‘plan, model’): from French, or from Latin modulus (see modulus). Current senses date from the 1950s.
