Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Method
Meth′od
,Noun.
[F.
méthode
, L. methodus
, fr. Gr. μεθοδοσ
method, investigation following after; μετά
after + ὁδόσ
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. Shakespeare
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 Linnaean method
.
Syn. – Order; system; rule; regularity; way; manner; mode; course; process; means.
–
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 secure 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. Webster 1828 Edition
Method
METH'OD
,Noun.
1.
A suitable and convenient arrangement of things, proceedings or ideas; the natural or regular disposition of separate things or parts; convenient order for transacting business, or for comprehending any complicated subject. Without method, business of any kind will fall into confusion. To carry on farming to advantage, to keep accounts correctly, method is indispensable.2.
Way; manner. Let us know the nature of the disease, and the method of cure.3.
Classification; arrangement of natural bodies according to their common characteristics; as the method of Theophrast; the method of Ray; the Linnean method.In natural arrangements a distinction is sometimes made between method and system. System is an arrangement founded, throughout all its parts, on some one principle. Method is an arrangement less fixed and determinate, and founded on more general relations. Thus we say, the natural method, and the artificial or sexual system of Linne, though the latter is not a perfect system.