Functionality

How to spell functionality

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce functionality

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does functionality mean?

1. nounThe range of operations or features that something, especially a device, system, or piece of software, is able to perform.

Functionality in a sentence

• The latest update adds search functionality to the app.

• Customers praised the phone for its design but criticised its limited functionality.

Where does functionality come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word builds on 'function', which English took in the late 1500s from the Latin functio, meaning 'a performance' or 'an execution of a task'. That noun grew from the verb fungi, which literally meant 'to perform, carry out, or discharge a duty', so the earliest sense was about something doing the job it was meant to do. English layered on the adjective ending '-al' to make 'functional', describing something that works or serves a purpose, and then added the abstract noun ending '-ity' to name the quality itself, the capacity to perform. 'Functionality' is a comparatively modern formation that flourished in the twentieth century, especially in engineering and computing, where it describes the range of operations a device or program can carry out. The same fungi root sits quietly inside 'defunct', literally something that has finished discharging its duties and so no longer works. For spelling, the safe path is to assemble it in layers, function, then functional, then functionality, which keeps the single 'c', the 't', and the unstressed '-al-' in their proper places.

How the word is built

• funct- (from Latin fungi: to perform, discharge)
• -ion (noun of action)
• -al (adjective)
• -ity (noun of quality)