function

American  

[fuhngk-shuhn] / ˈfʌŋk ʃən /

noun

• functions
  plural

1. 

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

2. any ceremonious public or social gathering or occasion.

3. a factor related to or dependent upon other factors.

   Price is a function of supply and demand.

4. Mathematics.

   1. 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 = x 2 ; operator.

   2. 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 y 2 = x 2 , which assigns to every x the two values y = + x and y = − x.

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

   4. a relationship in which an input value of a variable has a specifically calculated output value: for example, if the function of x is x 2 , the output will always be the square of whatever the value of x is. f, F

5. Geometry.

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

   2. hyperbolic function.

6. Grammar.

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

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

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

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verb (used without object)

• functions,
  present (3rd person singular)
• functioned,
  past participle,  past
• functioning
  present participle

1. to perform a specified action or activity; work; operate.

   The computer isn't functioning now. He rarely functions before noon.

2. 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.

function British  

/ ˈfʌŋkʃən /

noun

1. the natural action or intended purpose of a person or thing in a specific role

   the function of a hammer is to hit nails into wood

2. an official or formal social gathering or ceremony

3. a factor dependent upon another or other factors

   the length of the flight is a function of the weather

4. Also called: map, mapping. maths logic a relation between two sets that associates a unique element (the value) of the second (the range) with each element (the argument) of the first (the domain): a many-one relation. Symbol: f( x ) The value of f( x ) for x = 2 is f(2)

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verb

1. to operate or perform as specified; work properly

2. (foll by as) to perform the action or role (of something or someone else)

   a coin may function as a screwdriver

function Scientific  

/ fŭngk′shən /

1. 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.

2. 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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function Cultural  

1. In mathematics, a quantity whose value is determined by the value of some other quantity. For example, “The yield of this field is a function of the amount of fertilizer applied” means that a given amount of fertilizer will yield an amount of whatever crop is growing.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prefunction
  noun
• subfunction
  noun
• superfunction
  noun
• refunction
  verb (used without object)
• functionless
  adjective
• interfunction
  adjective
• multifunction
  adjective
• nonfunctioning
  adjective
• overfunctioning
  adjective
• unfunctioning
  adjective
• well-functioning
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• functions
  plural

Participles

• functioning
  present
• functioned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• function
  simple
• functions
  simple
• have functioned
  perfect
• has functioned
  perfect
• am functioning
  progressive
• are functioning
  progressive
• is functioning
  progressive
• have been functioning
  perfect progressive
• has been functioning
  perfect progressive

Past

• functioned
  simple
• had functioned
  perfect
• was functioning
  progressive
• were functioning
  progressive
• had been functioning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will function
  simple
• will have functioned
  perfect
• will be functioning
  progressive
• will have been functioning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of function

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin functiōn- (stem of functiō ) “a performance, execution,” equivalent to funct(us) (past participle of fungī ) “performed, executed” + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

In the old "Schoolhouse Rock" song, "Conjunction junction, what's your function?," the word function means, "What does a conjunction do?" The famous design dictum "form follows function" tells us that an object's design should reflect what it does. Function is one of those words that gets used a lot and means lots of different things. It means what something does, but also what a person does, whether something or someone is doing what they should, and crazily enough, a big party. "Your function is to bring the senator coffee at the political function. He cannot function without it."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

function functions functioned functioning

The industry that previously fell in love with job titles like “digital ninja” and “storyteller” has become fascinated with its latest newly minted function: the marketing engineer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

I intend to keep working as long as I can function, earning $108,000 a year.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

Dots, however, were pitched as brightly colored cute cartoons meant to function as digital assistants for people with busy lives.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

This argument would essentially function as a variation on the so-called dormant commerce clause by inferring implied constitutional constraints on states’ sovereign powers.

From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026

In late 1791 the War Department put Major General “Mad” Anthony Wayne in charge of restructuring the army units under his command so they could function as irregular forces in Ohio.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Through his cellmate, Gershkovich learned the rules of Russian prison life, including how to perform various bodily functions in the cramped cell and how to comport himself with other inmates to stay safe.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

When basic government functions are carried out visibly and consistently, they can seem extraordinary - particularly because so many people have come to expect otherwise.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

Leadership failed to ensure that the basic functions of schooling occurred reliably.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

The order also restored LAHSA’s other core functions — operating the homeless database and the housing matching system and conducting the annual homeless count.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

For a bread mold to grow successfully in minimal media, then, it needed all its metabolic, molecule-building functions to be intact.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Some tech-savvy investors built custom sets of agents that functioned like mini money managers, crunching numbers and monitoring the market like a team of analysts at a hedge fund.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

They combined molecular data with measurements of how the plants functioned under realistic environmental conditions.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

At first, the account functioned like a group chat for local surfers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

While the estate's network of tracks functioned as a fire break in some locations, in other areas strong winds helped high flames jump the gap.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Her mind functioned like a wooden mind, her body moved crookedly like a badly operated marionette, but she went steadily about her business.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

“A sufficiently powerful system functioning within a self-reinforcing loop risks reducing the ability of society to exercise meaningful oversight and intervention,” Bailey wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Seeley and his colleagues demonstrated how personality is, at least partly, brought into being by neurons that are specifically tailored to synthesize social functioning.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

However, Atak was seen during 90 minutes of aerial footage to be piloting the vessel using its one remaining functioning engine, the court heard.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

For the Johns Hopkins team, an important question remains how the structure seen in functioning axons relates to the damaging beading associated with neurological disease.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

The society of Gethen, in its daily functioning and in its continuity, is without sex.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• action
• activity
• affair
• behavior
• business
• duty
• exercise
• objective
• operation
• part
• power
• purpose
• responsibility
• role
• service
• situation
• task
• work