Quasimodo n.

"as if, as it were," used in introducing a proposed or possible explanation, late 15c., a Latin word used in Latin in hypothetical comparisons, "as if, just as if, as though;" in real comparisons "just as, as;" and in approximation, "somewhat like, nearly, not far from." It is from quam "as" relative pronominal adverb of manner (from PIE root *kwo-, stem of relative and interrogative pronouns) + si "if" (from PIE pronominal stem *swo- "so;" see so).

"manner;" late 14c., "melodies, strains of music" (a sense now obsolete; see musical senses below), from Old French mode and directly from Latin modus "measure, extent, quantity; proper measure, rhythm, song; a way, manner, fashion, style" (in Late Latin also "mood" in grammar and logic), from PIE root *med- "take appropriate measures."

Meaning "manner of acting or doing, was in which a thing is done" is by 1660s. Sense of "inflectional category in conjugation" is mid-15c. In music, 1670s as "method of dividing the intervals of the octave for melodic purposes" in reference to ancient Greek music; by 1721 in reference to modern music.