Is "modulo" a verb? If so, how is it conjugated?

Question

I'm trying to document my implementation of a circular coordinate system. I made up the word "moduloed" to express its inner workings.

/**
 * Sets the value at a point
 * @param theta can be any value, will be moduloed to range [0, Circumference)
 * @param radius in range [0, Radius)
 */
setPoint(double theta, double radius, int value) {
    theta = Math.floorMod(theta, Circumference);
    matrix[(int)theta][(int)radius] = value;
}

Most of the other mathematical operations have a past tense (ex. divided) and present tense (ex. divides). Can we use "moduloed" and "modulos"? Is there a way of phrasing this that avoids using modulo as a verb?

Answer 1

No, "modulo" is not a verb. It's the Latin ablative of modulus which itself means "a small measure."

It is technically mathematical jargon:

commonly used phrases which are part of the culture of mathematics, rather than of the subject

I recommend you rewrite that documentation sentence as simply:

Theta is the angle in radians from the X-axis.

If you feel like you need to conjugate "modulo", your sentence is probably already obtuse (haha). But you could elaborate each on a case by case basis:

Note: Theta is converted to the smallest non-negative coterminal angle.

Answer 2

The verb is to reduce a number to a range (or modulo another number).