functional

1. 1

   In good working order.

   • While we assume that phonological subsyllabic units are functional prior to reading skill, we have not ruled out a possible interaction with the writing system.
2. 2

   Useful; serving a purpose, fulfilling a function.

   • That sculpture is not merely artistic, but also functional: it can be used as a hatrack.
3. 3

   Only for functional purposes, notably in architecture.

   • A functional construction element generally must meet higher technical but lower aesthetical requirements.
4. 4

   Of or relating to one's role or office; official.

   • functional responsibilities
5. 5

   Characterizing functioning in environment, being symptoms that do not presuppose alteration of organic structure.

   • The clinical differentiation between functional and organic disease is at times difficult to establish, because, presumptively, in the beginning, at least, all organic disease is preceded by a physiologic perversion, that is, functional alt
   • In our study of participants aged 18–39, increasing age was associated with improved functioning in laundry task and overall social functioning, encompassing prosocial activities, recreation, independence–competence, and employment. […] How
6. 6

   Optimized for all-around physiological benefit.

   • functional coffee
   • functional fitness
7. 7

   Of or relating to a function or functions.

8. 8

   Having semantics defined purely in terms of mathematical functions, without side-effects.

syn. functioning · working · utilitarian · functional · in working order · operational · running like a top · up

ant. dysfunctional · non-functional · nonfunctional · unfunctional · organic · out of order

1. 1

   A function that takes a function as its argument; more precisely, a function whose argument varies in a space of (real- or complex-valued) functions and whose value belongs to a monodimensional space.

   • An example of a functional is the definite integration of integrable real functions in a real interval.
2. 2

   A scalar-valued linear function on a vector space.

3. 3

   An object encapsulating a function pointer (or equivalent).