method English · revision 2877

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1425|origins=grc μέθοδος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmeθ.əd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|methodus|t=way of teaching or proceeding]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps through French méthode,^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[grc|μέθοδος|tr=méthodos|t=pursuit of knowledge, inquiry; originally a following after]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|grc|μετά|tr=metá|t=after, in pursuit of]] and [[m|grc|ὁδός|tr=hodós|t=way, road, journey]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A prescribed medical treatment for a disease: probably before 1425, in a translation of Chauliac's ''Grande Chirurgie'',^(Barnhart 1988) the early 15th century in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and 1541 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The medical sense is obsolete.^(OED 1989) The wider sense, any special way of doing things, is first recorded in 1586,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the 1580s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Orderliness, regularity, as in ''method in his madness'', is from the 1610s,^(Etymonline) and a complete set of rules for reaching an end from the 1680s.^(Etymonline) ''Methodist'' meant one who follows a method in 1593,^(Barnhart 1988) and was applied to the religious society founded at Oxford in 1729 by John and Charles Wesley,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) probably from their following a set method of Bible study.^(Cresswell 2021) In acting, ''the Method'', associated with Stanislavsky, is from 1923.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1425 – a medical treatment.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1586 – a way of doing something.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1593 – ''methodist'', one following a method.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1610s – orderliness.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1680s – a system of rules.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1729 – the Methodists at Oxford.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1923 – the Method in acting.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A way of doing something, especially a regular and systematic one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Orderly arrangement; planning: ''there is method in his madness''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The techniques of a particular field of knowledge.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(acting)'' A technique in which actors identify closely with their characters.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[methodless]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[methodical]]

+ * [[methodology]]

+ * [[Methodist]]

+ * [[exodus]]

+ * [[odometer]]

+ * [[episode]]

+ * [[period]]

+ * [[synod]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Method'' suggests a detailed, logically ordered plan, ''system'' an orderly method with many parts, ''routine'' a habitual procedure, and ''manner'', ''mode'', ''fashion'' and ''way'' are more general.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}