- function word
- noun Date: 1940 a word (as a preposition, auxiliary verb, or conjunction) expressing primarily grammatical relationship
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
function word
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Function word — Function words (or grammatical words) are words that have little lexical meaning or have ambiguous meaning, but instead serve to express grammatical relationships with other words within a sentence, or specify the attitude or mood of the speaker … Wikipedia
function word — n a word that does not mean anything on its own, but shows the relationship between other words in a sentence, for example words such as but or if … Dictionary of contemporary English
function word — function ,word noun count LINGUISTICS a word used mainly for expressing relationships between other words in a sentence, for example a conjunction like but or a preposition like with … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
function word — n. a word, as an article or conjunction, having little or no lexical meaning but used to show syntactic relation … English World dictionary
function word — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms function word : singular function word plural function words linguistics a word used mainly for expressing relationships between other words in a sentence, for example a conjunction like but or a preposition… … English dictionary
function word — noun (C) a word such as a pronoun or preposition that is used in place of another word or shows the relationship between two words. For example, in the sentences The cat is hungry. It hasn t been fed yet, it is a function word … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
function word — noun a word that is uninflected and serves a grammatical function but has little identifiable meaning • Syn: ↑closed class word • Hypernyms: ↑word • Hyponyms: ↑determiner, ↑determinative, ↑preposition, ↑ … Useful english dictionary
function word — a word, as a preposition, article, auxiliary, or pronoun, that chiefly expresses grammatical relationships, has little semantic content of its own, and belongs to a small, closed class of words whose membership is relatively fixed (distinguished… … Universalium
function word — func′tion word n. ling. a word, as a preposition, conjunction, or article, that chiefly expresses grammatical relationships and has little semantic content of its own (disting. from content word). • Etymology: 1935–40 … From formal English to slang
function word — noun A word that has little meaning when standing alone, but instead serves to express grammatical relationships with other words within a sentence, or specify the attitude or mood of the speaker, such as prepositions, pronouns, auxiliary verbs,… … Wiktionary
function word — n. word that indicates mainly grammatical relationship (such as auxiliary verb, preposition or conjunction), form word … English contemporary dictionary
