method
 meth·od (mĕthʹəd)n.
1. A means or manner of procedure, especially a regular and systematic way of accomplishing something:
a simple method for making a pie crust; mediation as a method of solving disputes.
See Usage Note at methodology.
2. Orderly arrangement of parts or steps to accomplish an end:
random efforts that lack method.
3. The procedures and techniques characteristic of a particular discipline or field of knowledge:
This field course gives an overview of archaeological method.
4. Method A technique of acting in which the actor recalls emotions and reactions from past experience and uses them in identifying with and individualizing the character being portrayed. [Middle English, medical procedure, from Latin methodus, method, from Greek methodos, pursuit, method : meta-, beyond, after; see meta- + hodos, way, journey.]
Synonyms: method, system, routine, manner, mode, fashion, way
These nouns refer to the plans or procedures followed to accomplish a task or attain a goal. Method implies a detailed, logically ordered plan: “I do not know of a better method for choosing a presidential nominee” (Harry S. Truman). System suggests order, regularity, and coordination of methods: “Of generalship, of strategic system... there was little or none” (John Morely). A routine is a habitual, often tiresome method: “The common business of the nation... is carried on in a constant routine by the clerks of the different offices” (Tobias Smollett). Manner and fashion emphasize personal or distinctive behavior: a clearly articulated manner of speaking; issuing orders in an arbitrary and abrasive fashion. Mode often denotes a manner influenced by or arising from tradition or custom: a nomadic mode of life. Way is the least specific of these terms: “It is absurd to think that the only way to tell if a poem is lasting is to wait and see if it lasts” (Robert Frost).
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