Definition of: function

(fungk′shən) noun
1. The specific, natural, or proper action that belongs to an agent.
2. One's appropriate or assigned business, duty, part, or office.
3. The proper employment of faculties or powers.
4. The normal action of any organ or set of organs: the respiratory function.
5. A public or official ceremony or formal entertainment.
6. Math. A quantity whose value is dependent on the value of some other quantity.
7. Ling. The part played by a linguistic element in a form or construction. See synonyms under DUTY.
—v.i.
1. To perform as expected or required; operate properly.
2. To perform the rôle of something else.
3. Ling. To perform a specific function. [<OF <L functio, -onis <fungi perform]