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

It supports efficient information transmission along axons and also helps supply them with nutrients, making it vital to healthy brain function.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

But the second half requires the first to function properly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

If transportation is universally available without fares on campus, it may seem natural to ask why urban transportation doesn’t function similarly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

RBC commodity strategist Chris Looney has discussed how the recent stabilization in gold flows could be “a function of post-consolidation dip-buying and the market pricing in Iran-related uncertainty.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Blending inheritance would function as his natural genetic prison: even if he mated—precisely when he mated—his hereditary features would instantly vanish into a sea of normalcy.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Bouaddi functions as a deep-lying conductor - much in the same vein as Rodri - and would complement summer signing Anderson, who is more of a box-to-box midfielder.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Google has indeed been successful in supercharging search functions with AI.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

One of the goals of the merger is to shave costs by consolidating overlapping business divisions and back-office functions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Lovable’s platform can be used to develop tools for a range of business functions, including managing human resources, sales and finance departments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

In the old days, before Riemann saw that the complex plane was really a sphere, functions like 1/x would stump mathematicians.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

For much of the past century, British politics functioned largely as a two-party system.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026

Married to the legendary Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee until his death in 2014, Quinn has functioned, at least since the 1980s, as the self-appointed spokeswoman of the nation’s permanent political establishment.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

In another lawsuit, he claimed an arcade rigged its claw machines against players, alleging it functioned as “a casino for children.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

If the company insists that this is a separate problem, ask them to explain why a toilet that functioned one way before the repair and another way immediately afterward should attract a second diagnostic fee.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

Clarkebury functioned more like a military school than a teacher training college.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

He taped the unfeeling fingers to the functioning ones so that he could grip a baseball, then, resembling “a little boy throwing against the steps of his back porch,” threw against a wall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

But the country’s rulers are taking time-tested steps to keep their chronically battered economy functioning just enough to resist a drawn-out campaign.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

A squark can signal when the system is switched on, is functioning properly, but it can also carry location information.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

"These differences may seem small at first, but they can add up in ways that affect learning, memory and everyday functioning."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

She quickly discovered that phone lines at the Teleco building weren’t functioning.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

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