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Define the word functional

Functional \Func"tion*al\ (f[u^][ng]k"sh[u^]n*al), a.
   1. Pertaining to, or connected with, a function or duty;
      official.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Pathology, Physiol.) Pertaining to the function of an
      organ or part, or to the functions in general; involving
      or affecting function rather than physiology; as,
      functional deafness; a functional disease. See functional disease, below. [WordNet sense 2]
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Designed for or capable of a particular function or use;
      as, a style of writing in which every word is functional;
      functional architecture. [WordNet sense 1]
      [WordNet 1.6]

   4. Fit or ready for use or service; useable; in working
      order; as, the toaster was still functional even after
      being dropped; the lawnmower is a bit rusty but still
      functional. Antonym of out of order and nonfunctional.
      [WordNet sense 4 & 6]

   Syn: usable, useable, in working order(predicate), operable,
        operational, running(prenominal), operative.
        [WordNet 1.6]

   5. Designed to emphasize practical utility rather than
      artistic or aesthetic purposes; as, functional education
      selects knowledge that is concrete and usable rather than
      abstract and theoretical; functional architecture; an
      amateurish device, crude but functional.
      [WordNet 1.6]

   Functional disease (Med.), a disease of which the symptoms
      cannot be referred to any appreciable lesion or change of
      structure; the derangement of an organ arising from a
      cause, often unknown, external to itself opposed to
      organic disease, in which the organ itself is affected.
      [1913 Webster]

functional
     adj 1: designed for or capable of a particular function or use; "a
            style of writing in which every word is functional";
            "functional architecture" [ant: nonfunctional]
     2: involving or affecting function rather than physiology;
        "functional deafness" [ant: organic]
     3: relating to or based on function especially as opposed to
        structure; "the problem now is not a constitutional one;
        it is a functional one"; "delegates elected on a
        functional rather than a geographical basis"
     4: fit or ready for use or service; "the toaster was still
        functional even after being dropped"; "the lawnmower is a
        bit rusty but still usable"; "an operational aircraft";
        "the dishwasher is now in working order" [syn: usable, useable,
         in working order(p), operable, operational]
     5: designed for or adapted to a function or use; "functional
        education selects knowledge that is concrete and usable
        rather than abstract and theoretical"; "functional
        architecture"
     6: (of e.g. a machine) performing or capable of performing; "in
        running (or working) order"; "a functional set of brakes"
        [syn: running(a), operative, working(a)]

104 Moby Thesaurus words for "functional":
   acting, active, adjectival, advantageous, adverbial, agential,
   agentival, agentive, appropriate, at work, attributive, banausic,
   behavioral, beneficial, commodious, conjunctive, copulative,
   correct, effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient, employable,
   essential, expedient, fitting, formal, functioning, glossematic,
   go, going, going on, good for, grammatic, handy, helpful,
   important, in exercise, in force, in hand, in operation, in play,
   in practice, in process, in the works, inaction, industrial,
   intransitive, linking, managerial, manipulational,
   neuropsychiatric, nominal, of general utility, of help, of service,
   of use, official, on foot, on the fire, ongoing, operating,
   operational, operative, participial, performing, postpositional,
   practicable, practical, practicing, pragmatical, prepositional,
   pro, professional, pronominal, proper, psychiatric,
   psychobiological, psychodynamic, psychogenic, psychological,
   psychoneurological, psychopathic, psychopathological,
   psychophysical, psychophysiological, psychosexual, psychosocial,
   psychosomatic, psychotic, running, serviceable, serving,
   structural, substantive, syntactic, tagmemic, technical,
   transitive, useful, utilitarian, verbal, vocational, working

functional
     
        1. Working correctly.
     
        2. Pertaining to functional programming.
     
        3. higher-order function.