'method acting' definitions:

Definition of 'method acting'

From: WordNet
noun
An acting technique introduced by Stanislavsky in which the actor recalls emotions or reactions from his or her own life and uses them to identify with the character being portrayed [syn: method acting, method]

Definition of 'method acting'

From: GCIDE
  • Method \Meth"od\, n. [F. m['e]thode, 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Orderly arrangement, elucidation, development, or classification; clear and lucid exhibition; systematic arrangement peculiar to an individual. [1913 Webster]
  • Though this be madness, yet there's method in it. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • All method is a rational progress, a progress toward an end. --Sir W. Hamilton. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. A technique used in acting in which the actor tries to identify with the individual personality of the specific character being portrayed, so as to provide a realistic rendering of the character's role. Also called {the Method}, method acting, the Stanislavsky Method or Stanislavsky System. [PJC]
  • Syn: Order; system; rule; regularity; way; manner; mode; course; process; means.
  • Usage: 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. [1913 Webster] Methodic