'the Method' definitions:

Definition of 'the Method'

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