functional

English

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈfʌŋkt͡ʃənəl/, /ˈfʌŋkt͡ʃnəl/
•  Audio (US) (file)

functional (comparative more functional, superlative most functional)

1. In good working order.
2. Useful; serving a purpose, fulfilling a function
That sculpture is not merely artistic, but also functional: it can be used as a hatrack.
3. Only for functional purposes, notably in architecture
A functional construction element generally must meet higher technical but lower aesthetical requirements
4. () Having semantics defined purely in terms of mathematical functions, without side-effects.
5. (medicine) Of a disease, such that its symptoms cannot be referred to any appreciable lesion or change of structure; opposed to organic disease, in which the organ itself is affected.

Translations

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Noun

functional (plural functionals)

1. (mathematics) A function that takes a function as its argument; More precisely: A function ${\displaystyle y=f(x)}$ whose argument ${\displaystyle x}$ varies in a space of (real or complex valued) functions and whose value belongs to a monodimensional space. An example is the definite integration of integrable real functions in a real interval.
2. () A scalar-valued linear function on a vector space.
3. (computing) An object encapsulating a function pointer (or equivalent).