catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  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]

  Functional \Func"tion*al\, a.
     1. Pertaining to, or connected with, a function or duty;
        official.
  
     2. (Physiol.) Pertaining to the function of an organ or part,
        or to the functions in general.
  
     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.