(n.) The act of executing or performing any duty, office, or
calling; per formance.
(n.) The appropriate action of any special organ or part of an
animal or vegetable organism; as, the function of the heart or the
limbs; the function of leaves, sap, roots, etc.; life is the sum of the
functions of the various organs and parts of the body.
(n.) The natural or assigned action of any power or faculty,
as of the soul, or of the intellect; the exertion of an energy of some
determinate kind.
(n.) The course of action which peculiarly pertains to any
public officer in church or state; the activity appropriate to any
business or profession.
(n.) A quantity so connected with another quantity, that if
any alteration be made in the latter there will be a consequent
alteration in the former. Each quantity is said to be a function of the
other. Thus, the circumference of a circle is a function of the
diameter. If x be a symbol to which different numerical values can be
assigned, such expressions as x2, 3x, Log. x, and Sin. x, are all
functions of x.
(v. i.) Alt. of Functionate
