| 释义 |
▪ I. function, n.|ˈfʌŋkʃən|
Also 6 funccion.
[a. OF. function (F. fonction, cf. It. funzione, Sp. funcion), ad. L. functiōn-em, n. of action f. fungī (fungor) to perform.]
†1. In etymological sense: The action of performing; discharge or performance of (something).
1597Daniel Civ. Wars vi. xciii, His hand, his eye, his wits all present, wrought The function of the glorious Part he beares. 1656–81in Blount Glossogr. 1701Swift Contests Nobles & Com. Wks. 1755 II. i. 50 A representing commoner in the function of his publick calling. 1755in Johnson. Hence in mod. Dicts.
†2. Activity; action in general, whether physical or mental. Of a person: Bearing, gestures. Obs.
1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 142 A trifold kinde of life, Actiue, which is about ciuil function, and administration. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 582 Teares in his eyes..A broken voyce, and his whole Function suiting With Formes, to his Conceit. 1605― Macb. i. iii. 140 Function is smother'd in surmise.
3. The special kind of activity proper to anything; the mode of action by which it fulfils its purpose. Also in generalized application, esp. (Phys.) as contrasted with structure.
a. of a physical organ; in early use of animal organisms only; later of vegetable. Often preceded by some defining word, as animal, organic, vital, etc.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 177 Dark night, that from the eye his function takes, The eare more quicke of apprehension makes. 1664H. More Myst. Iniq., Apol. 500 The Earth..modified into a frame fit for the functions of life. 1692Bentley Boyle Lect. viii. 284 If our Air had not been a springy Elastical Body, no Animal could have exercised the very Function of Respiration. 1704F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 22 Animal Spirits..serve to execute other Functions besides that of Motion. 1797M. Baillie Morb. Anat. (1807) 285 There is little disadvantage to the animal functions produced by this variety. 1808Med. Jrnl. XIX. 386 Before we can..understand the functions of the nerves, we must understand those of the brain. 1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 34 The same..law..is..essential to the functions of vegetable life. 1831Brewster Nat. Magic iii. (1833) 51 Some accidental and temporary derangement of the vital functions. 1838T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 988 The functions of the leaves during the day are very different from what they are during the night. 1862Darwin Fertil. Orchids ii. 65 These points of structure and function. 1882Vines Sachs' Bot. 730 If the..limits mentioned..are exceeded, the functions of the plant may..simply come to rest. 1886A. Winchell Walks & Talks Geol. Field 260 They [Pterosaurs] foreshadowed birds..in the flying function.
b. of the intellectual and moral powers, etc.
1604Shakes. Oth. ii. ii. 354 As her Appetite shall play the God, With his weake Function. 1671Milton Samson 596 Nature within me seems In all her functions weary of herself. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1837) III. 192 The functions of comparison, judgment, and interpretation. 1868Farrar Silence & V. ii. (1875) 33 The first function of the conscience is to warn.
c. of things in general; spec. in Philology; so function word (see quot. 1940).
1541R. Copland Galyen's Terap. 2 C j, There be two fyrste dyfferences of the functions and actions of medycyne. 1776Adam Smith W. N. i. iv. (1869) I. 25 These rude bars, therefore, performed at this time the function of money. 1805–17R. Jameson Char. Min. (ed. 3) 189 The letters are placed as if all the angles and edges had different functions. 1854Brewster More Worlds v. 93 The sun has a great function to perform in controlling the movements of the whole system. 1862H. Spencer First Princ. i. i. §2 (1875) 8 They assert that the sole function of the State is the protection of persons against each other, and against a foreign foe. 1872Ruskin Eagle's Nest §210 The function of historical painting. 1894O. Jespersen Progress in Lang. v. 135 Syntax is nothing but the theory of the functions, i.e., meanings, of the grammatical forms. 1919E. Classen Outl. Hist. Eng. Lang. ii. 35 One of the consequences of the fixing of the word order was that each word in the sentence had its particular syntactic function according to its exact position, and that the survivals of free word order which were to be found in Old English disappeared in Middle English. 1926L. Bloomfield in Language II. 159 The positions in which a form occurs are its functions. 1933― Lang. xvi. 265 The lexical form in any actual utterance, as a concrete linguistic form, is always accompanied by some grammatical form: it appears in some function, and these privileges of occurrence make up, collectively, the grammatical function of the lexical form. Ibid., Lexical forms which have any function in common, belong to a common form-class. 1940C. C. Fries Amer. Eng. Gram. 109 By a function word I mean a word that has little or no meaning apart from the grammatical idea it expresses. 1963F. T. Visser Hist. Syntax I. iii. 189 The verb is not a content-word, but a function-word, and is traditionally called ‘copula’. 1967[see functor 2].
d. Computers. Any of the basic operations in a computer, esp. one that corresponds to a single instruction.
1947D. R. Hartree Calculating Machines 11 Consider, therefore, the functions required in the operation of a digital calculating machine. Ibid. 12 The components carrying out these functions may not all be physically distinct; for example a single unit may act both as an adding unit and a memory unit. 1952Math. Tables & other Aids to Computation VI. 170 A ‘left-shift’ function is available. This shifts the entire product one place to the left and may be called by a digit impulse supplied to its function gate. 1962Gloss. Terms Autom. Data Processing (B.S.I.) 37 Function part (operation part, function digits, function number), that part of an instruction which specifies the operation to be performed. 1964F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers i. 10 A calculation can be carried out if the necessary functions are carried out in the correct order.
4. a. The kind of action proper to a person as belonging to a particular class, esp. to the holder of any office; hence, the office itself, an employment, profession, calling, trade.
1533More Confut. Barnes viii. Wks. 761/1 [Barnes values his own prayers above those of Our Lady and the saints] because the sayntes be al departed hence..and be no lenger of our funccion. 1564Brief Exam. *****, Garmentes make not the person knowen by name, but his common function. 1574Ord. in D. Irving Hist. Scot. Poetry (1861) 451 The contraveners hereof, if they be ministers, to be secludit fra the function. 1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. i. (1627) 1 A Discourse betweene two Schoolemasters, Concerning their function. 1662Bk. Com. Prayer Prayer Ember Week, To those which shall be ordained to any holy function. 1706Estcourt Fair Examp. iv. i, If I don't succeed here, I'll renounce the Honour of my Function. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 210 Exercise no other function than that of a physician. 1791Burke App. Whigs Wks. VI. 85 With perfidy to their colleagues in function. 1795― Regic. Peace i. Wks. IX. 81 One of the very first acts, by which it auspicated its entrance into function. 1811Lamb Good Clerk Misc. Wks. (1871) 385 The quill, which is the badge of his function, stuck behind his dexter ear. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xix. 369 The Jewish Prophets..included within their number functions so different as those of king and peasant. 1871Palgrave Lyr. Poems 118 Then at thy noble function toil. 1878R. W. Dale Lect. Preach. viii. 252 It is our function as ministers to satisfy the wants..of the higher life of man.
†b. collect. The persons following a profession or trade; an order, class. Obs.
c1580in Rye Cromer (1870) p. lxiii, The Peere..will yealde further meanes of trade and wourke to every function. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 146 The Scribes are not a Sect, but a function. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. iii. §145 The Earl of Essex was rather Displeased with the Person of the Arch-Bishop..than Indevoted to the Function. a1713T. Ellwood Autobiog. (1765) 19, I went..to hear the Minister of Chinner; and this was the last time I ever went to hear any of that Function. 1725Pope Odyss. xxi. 177 Thy coward function ever is in fear [said to a priest]. 1732Fielding Miser iii. iv, Never was a person of my function so used.
c. pl. Official duties.
1550Bale Apol. 105 b, Preferrynge vyrgynyte as..more free to all godly funccions. 1596Bp. W. Barlow Three Serm. ii. 71 Eyther Prince or Subiect fayling in their seuerall functions and places. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 71 More..exact in their functions than the other Monks. 1774J. Bryant Mythol. I. 335 They were in some particular functions the most accurate..of any creatures upon earth. 1792J. Barlow Const. of 1791, 5 The quantity of prejudice with which their functions called them to contend. 1845Ford Handbk. Spain i. 44 The mule performs in Spain the functions of the camel in the East. 1868Helps Realmah iii. (1876) 43 Ministers are worked to death by their double functions—parliamentary and official. 1874Farrar Christ 86 Caiaphas and Annas were dividing the functions of a priesthood which they disgraced.
5. a. A religious ceremony; orig. in the Roman Catholic Church. (Cf. It. funzione.)
1640in Trans. St. Paul's Eccles. Soc. I. 46 Wee have had neyther prayers nor any other function her thes two yers. 1670–98R. Lassels Voy. Italy II. 33 A cross set with Diamonds and Pearls which the Pope wears at his breast in great functions. 1741Middleton Cicero I. vi. 416 The dedication was not performed with any of the solemn words and rites which such a function required. 1789Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 83 The Christmas functions here were showy. 1818H. V. Elliott Let. in Bateman Life iv. (1870) 70 These were the finest parts of the ‘Function’ as it is called. 1855Thackeray Newcomes xi, The function over, one almost expects to see the sextons put brown hollands over the pews. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. iv. 439 After function's done with, down we go. 1884Sat. Rev. 7 June 745/2 On Wednesday and Thursday last week there were functions in two adjacent Cathedrals.
b. [? after Sp. funcion: see quot. 1858.] A public ceremony; a social or festive meeting conducted with form and ceremony.
[1858W. Stuart Let. in Hare Story Two Noble Lives (1893) II. 431, I hope that Char. s journal will have done justice to the Rajah of Mysore and his funcion along the road to receive her.] 1864Kingsley Rom. & Teut. 123 Then was held a grand function. Dietrich..had Italy ceded to him by a ‘Pragmatic’ sanction. 1878Besant & Rice Celia's Arb. xxxvii, There was a Function of some kind—a Launch—a Reception—a Royal Visit—going on in the Dockyard. 1884Manch. Exam. 11 Nov. 5/2 The American people are fond of functions. 1894Du Maurier Trilby (1895) 333 A prandial function which did not promise to be very amusing.
6. Math. A variable quantity regarded in its relation to one or more other variables in terms of which it may be expressed, or on the value of which its own value depends; function space, a topological space the elements of which are functions.[This use of the L. functio is due to Leibnitz and his associates. A paper in the Acta Eruditorum for 1692, pp. 169–170, signed ‘O.V.E.’, but prob. written by Leibnitz, uses functiones in a sense hardly different from its ordinary untechnical sense, to denote the various ‘offices’ which a straight line may fulfil in relation to a curve, viz. its tangent, normal, etc. In the same journal for 1694, p. 316, Leibnitz defines functio as ‘a part of a straight line which is cut off by straight lines drawn solely by means of a fixed point, and of a point in the curve which is given together with its degree of curvature’; the examples given being the ordinate, abscissa, tangent, normal, etc. As the functiones (in Leibnitz' sense) of a curve are variable quantities having a fixed mutual relation, this use of the word easily developed into the modern sense, which occurs in the writings of the Bernoullis early in the 18th c. A somewhat peculiar use occurs about 1713, in Leibnitz' Hist. et Origo Calc. Diff. (Math. Schriften ed. Gerhardt V. 408), where he says that just as constant quantities have their ‘functions’, viz. powers and roots, so variables have also ‘functions’ of a third kind, viz. differentials.] 1779Chambers' Cycl. (ed. Rees) s.v., The term function is used in algebra, for an analytical expression any way compounded of a variable quantity, and of numbers, or constant quantities. 1789Waring in Phil. Trans. LXXIX. 184 Let a quantity P be a function of x, or the fluent of a function of x × x. . 1816Babbage, etc. tr. Lacroix's Diff. & Int. Calc. 2 Let us take a function a little more complicated, u = ax2. 1837Brewster Magnet. 145 Whether the quantity and deviation at any point could be expressed by any function of the latitude and longitude of that point. 1885Watson & Burbury Math. Th. Electr. & Magn. I. 242 The functions ϕa and ϕb may be positive or negative. 1892J. Edwards Diff. Calculus i. §6 (ed. 2) 2 When one quantity depends upon another or upon a system of others, so that it assumes a definite value when a system of definite values is given to the others, it is called a function of those others. 1893Forsyth Theory of Functions 8 A complex quantity w is a function of another complex quantity z when they change together in such a manner that the value of dw / dz is independent of the differential element dz. This is Riemann's definition. 1931H. P. Robertson tr. Weyl's Theory of Groups & Quantum Mech. i. 32 The totality of such functions ψ(s) therefore constitute a linear ‘function space’ of continuously infinite dimensions. 1961R. A. Silverman tr. Smirnov's Linear Algebra & Group Theory v. 218 So far, we have considered the space H, where a vector is defined as an infinite set of numbers... We now consider a function space F, where continuously varying functions of one or several variables play the role of vectors. 1968E. T. Copson Metric Spaces iv. 57 The simplest function space consists of all functions x(t) continuous on a closed interval [a, b].
transf.1876L. Tollemache in Fortn. Rev. Jan. 110 A man's fortitude under given painful conditions is a function of two variables.
7. Special Comb.: function key Computing, a key that initiates an operation or sequence of operations, usu. other than the selection or transmission of one character.
1964Trollhann & Wittmann Dict. Data Processing 72/2 Function key. 1968IBM Systems Jrnl. VIII. 148 The cathode-ray tube display with its attendant function keys, light pen..and typewriter keyboard is assumed as the device for the transfer of information between user and computer. 1984J. Hilton Choosing & Using your Home Computer 83 The basic word print can be produced by simply pressing the special function key and the key for the letter P together. 1985Which Computer? Apr. 35/2 A special function key on the keyboard will produce a screen dump of whatever is currently on the screen.
Hence ˈfunctioned ppl. a., furnished with or having a function.
1882Athenæum 18 Nov. 657/2 Imagine a spiritual being so placed, so surrounded, and so functioned.
Sense 7 in Dict. becomes 8. Add: 7. Org. Chem. That aspect of the chemical behaviour of a compound which is due to the presence of a particular functional group; also, = functional group s.v. *functional a. 4.
1858Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1857 Notices & Abstr. 46 In the nomenclature here proposed, the root of the name of any substance denotes the group to which it belongs, the termination, its place in the group, and its chemical function. 1866Watts Dict. Chem. IV. 130 The termination -ol, to indicate the alcoholic function, is more employed by French than by English chemists. 1876Phil. Mag. II. 168 The group OH may, in certain compounds, exchange its hydrogen for metals, while in others..an exchange of hydrogen of this group can only be effected for alcoholic radicles. The group has thus two functions, an ‘alcoholic’ and an ‘acid’ function. 1933Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. LV. 3912 Substances of simple function are defined as those containing a function of one kind only, which may be repeated several times. 1978Nature 2 Mar. 56/2 The carboxyl group was replaced by functions that included: tetrazolyl-, sulphonyl-, sulphonamido-, phosphoryl-, substituted phosphoryl- and methylphosphinyl.
▪ II. function, v.|ˈfʌŋkʃən|
[f. prec. n. Cf. F. fonctionner.]
1. a. intr. To fulfil a function; to perform one's duty or part; to operate; to act. (In mod. use influenced by F. fonctionner.)
1856Masson Chatterton ii. iv. (1874) 227 Debt, though negative property, still is a kind of property, and functions as such to the advantage of its possessor. 1862Marsh Eng. Lang. 40 When played upon by an expert operator it functioned, as the French say, very well. 1876H. Maudsley Physiol. Mind v. 328 The mind will function along certain definite lines or paths. 1889Edin. Rev. Oct. 533 No instrument of despotism..has ever functioned with so little noise. 1894H. Drummond Ascent Man 257 In the higher groups the nutritive system is..the first to function, and the last to cease its work. 1897G. Allen Evol. Idea of God iii. 46 We..know..consciousness ceases altogether at death, when the brain no longer functions. 1907Daily Chron. 21 Aug. 4/7 This joy does not ‘function’, as the French so charmingly say, over the present sample of autumnal weather in a month that should strictly be August. 1918Times 18 Apr. 8/3 The agencies of obstruction and party intrigue which will immediately begin to function in every section of the political arena. 1924Galsworthy White Monkey i. viii, There are rules of the game which must be observed, if society is to function at all. 1965M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate iii. 50 Freddy functioned on with his letter, as he had done for thirty years of his natural history, a letter a week.
b. Phys.
1878Bell Gegenbaur's Comp. Anat. 7 We..know Vertebrata in which the clefts function only for a time as respiratory organs. 1887Athenæum 29 Oct. 572/1 Groups..having the nephridia functioning as efferent ducts for the gonads. 1896Life & Lett. G. J. Romanes 16 But in no case had it been shewn that they [nerves] functioned as such.
2. To hold a ‘function’ (see function n. 5 b) or ceremonial meeting. ? nonce-use.
1890Sat. Rev. 10 May 554/1 Two other Societies..‘functioned’ on the same day.
Hence ˈfunctioning vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1881W. S. Tuke tr. Charcot's Clin. Lect. 232 Disturbances resulting from the abnormal functioning of the affected organ. 1894Westm. Mag. 8 May 2/3 The mere show, the social functioning and ceremony, remains, although everyone knows that the life of the metropolis no longer expresses itself through the City Corporation. 1894H. Drummond Ascent Man ii. 117 The still functioning muscles of the forehead. |