Functional disease
(gcide) | Functional \Func"tion*al\ (f[u^][ng]k"sh[u^]n*al), a.
1. Pertaining to, or connected with, a function or duty;
official.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Pathology, Physiol.) Pertaining to the function of an
organ or part, or to the functions in general; involving
or affecting function rather than physiology; as,
functional deafness; a functional disease. See {functional
disease}, below. [WordNet sense 2]
[1913 Webster]
3. Designed for or capable of a particular function or use;
as, a style of writing in which every word is functional;
functional architecture. [WordNet sense 1]
[WordNet 1.6]
4. Fit or ready for use or service; useable; in working
order; as, the toaster was still functional even after
being dropped; the lawnmower is a bit rusty but still
functional. Antonym of out of order and nonfunctional.
[WordNet sense 4 & 6]
Syn: usable, useable, in working order(predicate), operable,
operational, running(prenominal), operative.
[WordNet 1.6]
5. Designed to emphasize practical utility rather than
artistic or aesthetic purposes; as, functional education
selects knowledge that is concrete and usable rather than
abstract and theoretical; functional architecture; an
amateurish device, crude but functional.
[WordNet 1.6]
Functional disease (Med.), a disease of which the symptoms
cannot be referred to any appreciable lesion or change of
structure; the derangement of an organ arising from a
cause, often unknown, external to itself opposed to
organic disease, in which the organ itself is affected.
[1913 Webster] |