Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Method?

\Meth"od\, n. [F. m['e]thode, L. methodus, fr. Gr. meqodos method, investigation following after; meta` after + "odo`s way.] 1. An orderly procedure or process; regular manner of doing anything; hence, manner; way; mode; as, a method of teaching languages; a method of improving the mind. --Addison. 2. Orderly arrangement, elucidation, development, or classification; clear and lucid exhibition; systematic arrangement peculiar to an individual. Though this be madness, yet there's method in it. --Shak. All method is a rational progress, a progress toward an end. --Sir W. Hamilton. 3. (Nat. Hist.) Classification; a mode or system of classifying natural objects according to certain common characteristics; as, the method of Theophrastus; the method of Ray; the Linn[ae]an method. Syn: Order; system; rule; regularity; way; manner; mode; course; process; means. Usage: {Method}, {Mode}, {Manner}. Method implies arrangement; mode, mere action or existence. Method is a way of reaching a given end by a series of acts which tend to sec?re it; mode relates to a single action, or to the form which a series of acts, viewed as a whole, exhibits. Manner is literally the handling of a thing, and has a wider sense, embracing both method and mode. An instructor may adopt a good method of teaching to write; the scholar may acquire a bad mode of holding his pen; the manner in which he is corrected will greatly affect his success or failure.