[W/K] :: functional

  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
       adj 1: designed for or capable of a particular function or use; "a
              style of writing in which every word is functional";
              "functional architecture" [ant: nonfunctional]
       2: involving or affecting function rather than physiology;
          "functional deafness" [ant: organic]
       3: relating to or based on function especially as opposed to
          structure; "the problem now is not a constitutional one;
          it is a functional one"; "delegates elected on a
          functional rather than a geographical basis"
       4: fit or ready for use or service; "the toaster was still
          functional even after being dropped"; "the lawnmower is a
          bit rusty but still usable"; "an operational aircraft";
          "the dishwasher is now in working order" [syn: usable, useable,
           in working order(p), operable, operational]
       5: designed for or adapted to a function or use; "functional
          education selects knowledge that is concrete and usable
          rather than abstract and theoretical"; "functional
          architecture"
       6: (of e.g. a machine) performing or capable of performing; "in
          running (or working) order"; "a functional set of brakes"
          [syn: running(a), operative, working(a)]

  104 Moby Thesaurus words for "functional":
     acting, active, adjectival, advantageous, adverbial, agential,
     agentival, agentive, appropriate, at work, attributive, banausic,
     behavioral, beneficial, commodious, conjunctive, copulative,
     correct, effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient, employable,
     essential, expedient, fitting, formal, functioning, glossematic,
     go, going, going on, good for, grammatic, handy, helpful,
     important, in exercise, in force, in hand, in operation, in play,
     in practice, in process, in the works, inaction, industrial,
     intransitive, linking, managerial, manipulational,
     neuropsychiatric, nominal, of general utility, of help, of service,
     of use, official, on foot, on the fire, ongoing, operating,
     operational, operative, participial, performing, postpositional,
     practicable, practical, practicing, pragmatical, prepositional,
     pro, professional, pronominal, proper, psychiatric,
     psychobiological, psychodynamic, psychogenic, psychological,
     psychoneurological, psychopathic, psychopathological,
     psychophysical, psychophysiological, psychosexual, psychosocial,
     psychosomatic, psychotic, running, serviceable, serving,
     structural, substantive, syntactic, tagmemic, technical,
     transitive, useful, utilitarian, verbal, vocational, working
  
  

  functional
       
          1. Working correctly.
       
          2. Pertaining to functional programming.
       
          3. higher-order function.