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.
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Webster Unabridged