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FUNCTIONS

[fuhngk-shuhn]

noun

the kind of action or activity proper to a person, thing, or institution; the purpose for which something is designed or exists; role.

any ceremonious public or social gathering or occasion.

a factor related to or dependent upon other factors: Price is a function of supply and demand.

Mathematics.

Also called correspondence, map, mapping, transformation. a relation between two sets in which one element of the second set is assigned to each element of the first set, as the expression y = x²; operator.

Also called multiple-value function. a relation between two sets in which two or more elements of the second set are assigned to each element of the first set, as y² = x², which assigns to every x the two values y = +x and y = −x.

a set of ordered pairs in which none of the first elements of the pairs appears twice.

Geometry.

a formula expressing a relation between the angles of a triangle and its sides, as sine or cosine.

hyperbolic function.

EXPAND

Grammar.

the grammatical role a linguistic form has or the position it occupies in a particular construction.

the grammatical roles or the positions of a linguistic form or form class collectively.

Sociology. the contribution made by a sociocultural phenomenon to an ongoing social system.

COLLAPSE

verb (used without object)

to perform a specified action or activity; work; operate: The computer isn't functioning now. He rarely functions before noon.

to have or exercise a function; serve: In earlier English the present tense often functioned as a future. This orange crate can function as a chair.

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Functions is always a great word to know.

So is ort. Does it mean:

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

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Origin:
1525–35; < Latin functiōn- (stem of functiō) a performance, execution, equivalent to funct(us) (past participle of fungī) performed, executed + -iōn- -ion

Related forms

in·ter·func·tion, adjective

mul·ti·func·tion, adjective

non·func·tion·ing, adjective

o·ver·func·tion·ing, adjective

pre·func·tion, noun

EXPAND

re·func·tion, verb (used without object)

sub·func·tion, noun

su·per·func·tion, noun

un·func·tion·ing, adjective

well-func·tion·ing, adjective

COLLAPSE

Link To FUNCTIONS

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

function

(fŭngk'shən) Pronunciation Key

A relationship between two sets that matches each member of the first set with a unique member of the second set. Functions are often expressed as an equation, such as y = x + 5, meaning that y is a function of x such that for any value of x, the value of y will be 5 greater than x.
A quantity whose value depends on the value given to one or more related quantities. For example, the area of a square is a function of the length of its sides.

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senate shift key spline trigonometric function -ate ablative

Matching Quote

"What one really wants is youth, and what one really loses is years. Life becomes at last a mere piece of acting. One goes on by habit, playing more or less clumsily that one is still alive. It is ludicrous and at times humiliating, but there is a certain style in it which youth has not. We become all, more or less, gentlemen; we are ancien régime; we learn to smile while gout racks us.... We get out of bed in the morning all broken up, without nerves, color or temper, and by noon we are joking with young women about the play. One lives in constant company with diseased hearts, livers, kidneys and lungs; one shakes hands with certain death at closer embrace every day; one sees paralysis in every feature and feels it in every muscle; all one's functions relax their action day by day; and, what is worse, one's grasp on the interests of life relaxes with the physical relaxation; and, through it all, we improve; our manners acquire refinement; our sympathies grow wider; our youthful self-consciousness disappears; very ordinary men and women are found to have charm; our appreciations have weight; we should almost get to respect ourselves if we knew of anything human to respect."

-Henry Brooks Adams

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