Meth"od (?), n. [F. méthode, L. methodus, fr. Gr. meqodos method, investigation
following after; meta` after + "odo`s 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.
Shak. 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 Linnæan 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.
Hear it pronounced