method

[meth-uh d] /ˈmɛθ əd/
noun
1.
a procedure, technique, or way of doing something, especially in accordance with a definite plan:
There are three possible methods of repairing this motor.
2.
a manner or mode of procedure, especially an orderly, logical, or systematic way of instruction, inquiry, investigation, experiment, presentation, etc.:
the empirical method of inquiry.
3.
order or system in doing anything:
to work with method.
4.
orderly or systematic arrangement, sequence, or the like.
5.
the Method, Also called Stanislavski Method, Stanislavski System. a theory and technique of acting in which the performer identifies with the character to be portrayed and renders the part in a naturalistic, nondeclamatory, and highly individualized manner.
adjective
6.
(usually initial capital letter) of, pertaining to, or employing the Method:
a Method actor; Method acting.
Origin
1375-1425; late Middle English: medical procedure < Latin methodus < Greek méthodos systematic course, equivalent to met- meta- + hodós way, road
Related forms
methodless, adjective
antimethod, adjective
Synonyms
1, 2. means, technique. Method, mode, way imply a manner in which a thing is done or in which it happens. Method refers to a settled kind of procedure, usually according to a definite, established, logical, or systematic plan: the open-hearth method of making steel; one method of solving a problem. Mode is a more formal word that implies a customary or characteristic fashion of doing something: Kangaroos have a peculiar mode of carrying their young. Way, a word in popular use for the general idea, is equivalent to various more specific words: someone's way (manner) of walking; the best way (method) of rapid calculating; the way (mode) of holding a pen. 4. disposition.
Examples from the web for method
  • If their method can be made routine, it will bring enormous benefits.
  • Researchers who once dismissed another team's cloning method used the disputed process to create monkey embryos.
  • And it changed enormously in form and method from century to century.
  • Whichever method you use, please don't get creative trying to buck the system.
  • The big question, he says, is whether the adiabatic method's gradual adjustment of qubits would operate rapidly at that size.
  • It seems that a possible method of evasion might be a system the deploys a large smoke cloud in the air.
  • Scientific method is the best process for uncovering the processes by which both physical and human events occur.
  • Means of escape and means of method have nothing to do with premeditation, he told us.
  • Scientists have long known that the human immune system has a method for detecting and destroying precancerous cells.
  • Reach students using their preferred method of communication-and in their preferred language.
British Dictionary definitions for method

method

/ˈmɛθəd/
noun
1.
a way of proceeding or doing something, esp a systematic or regular one
2.
orderliness of thought, action, etc
3.
(often pl) the techniques or arrangement of work for a particular field or subject
4.
(bell-ringing) any of several traditional sets of changes See major (sense 19), minor (sense 8)
Word Origin
C16: via French from Latin methodus, from Greek methodos, literally: a going after, from meta- after + hodos way

Method

/ˈmɛθəd/
noun
1.
(sometimes not capital)
  1. a technique of acting based on the theories of Stanislavsky, in which the actor bases his role on the inner motivation of the character he plays
  2. (as modifier): a Method actor
Word Origin and History for method
n.

early 15c., "regular, systematic treatment of disease," from Latin methodus "way of teaching or going," from Greek methodos "scientific inquiry, method of inquiry, investigation," originally "pursuit, a following after," from meta- "after" (see meta-) + hodos "a traveling, way" (see cede). Meaning "way of doing anything" is from 1580s; that of "orderliness, regularity" is from 1610s. In reference to a theory of acting associated with Russian director Konstantin Stanislavsky, it is attested from 1923.

method in Medicine

method meth·od (měth'əd)
n.

  1. A means or manner of procedure, especially a regular and systematic way of accomplishing something.

  2. Orderly arrangement of parts or steps to accomplish an end.

  3. The procedures and techniques characteristic of a particular discipline or field of knowledge.

method in Technology
programming
The name given in Smalltalk and other object-oriented languages to a procedure or routine associated with one or more classes. An object of a certain class knows how to perform actions, e.g. printing itself or creating a new instance of itself, rather than the function (e.g. printing) knowing how to handle different types of object.
Different classes may define methods with the same name (i.e. methods may be polymorphic). The term "method" is used both for a named operation, e.g. "PRINT" and also for the code which a specific class provides to perform tha t operation.
Most methods operate on objects that are instances of a certain class. Some object-oriented languages call these "object methods" to distinguish then from "class methods".
In Smalltalk, a method is defined by giving its name, documentation, temporary local variables and a sequence of expressions separated by "."s.
(2000-03-22)