Definition of Organ

1. Noun. A fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function.


2. Noun. A government agency or instrument devoted to the performance of some specific function. "The Census Bureau is an organ of the Commerce Department"

3. Noun. (music) an electronic simulation of a pipe organ.
Exact synonyms: Electric Organ, Electronic Organ, Hammond Organ
Generic synonyms: Electronic Instrument, Electronic Musical Instrument
Category relationships: Music
Derivative terms: Organist

4. Noun. A periodical that is published by a special interest group. "The organ of the communist party"
Generic synonyms: Periodical
Specialized synonyms: House Organ

5. Noun. Wind instrument whose sound is produced by means of pipes arranged in sets supplied with air from a bellows and controlled from a large complex musical keyboard.

6. Noun. A free-reed instrument in which air is forced through the reeds by bellows.
Exact synonyms: Harmonium, Reed Organ
Generic synonyms: Free-reed Instrument
Derivative terms: Organist

Definition of Organ

1. n. An instrument or medium by which some important action is performed, or an important end accomplished; as, legislatures, courts, armies, taxgatherers, etc., are organs of government.

2. v. t. To supply with an organ or organs; to fit with organs; to organize.

Definition of Organ

1. Noun. A largest part of an organism, composed of tissues that perform similar functions. ¹

2. Noun. (by extension) A body of an organization dedicated to the performing of certain functions. ¹

3. Noun. (musical instruments) A musical instrument that has multiple pipes which play when a key is pressed, or an electronic instrument designed to replicate such. ¹

4. Noun. An official magazine, newsletter, or similar publication of an organization. ¹

5. Noun. A species of cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) ¹

6. Noun. (slang) The penis. ¹

7. Verb. (obsolete transitive) To supply with an organ or organs; to fit with organs. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Organ

1. a differentiated part of an organism performing a specific function [n -S]

Medical Definition of Organ

1. 1. An instrument or medium by which some important action is performed, or an important end accomplished; as, legislatures, courts, armies, taxgatherers, etc, are organs of government. 2. A natural part or structure in an animal or a plant, capable of performing some special action (termed its function), which is essential to the life or well-being of the whole; as, the heart, lungs, etc, are organs of animals; the root, stem, foliage, etc, are organs of plants. In animals the organs are generally made up of several tissues, one of which usually predominates, and determines the principal function of the organ. Groups of organs constitute a system. See System. 3. A component part performing an essential office in the working of any complex machine; as, the cylinder, valves, crank, etc, are organs of the steam engine. 4. A medium of communication between one person or body and another; as, the secretary of state is the organ of communication between the government and a foreign power; a newspaper is the organ of its editor, or of a party, sect, etc. 5. [Cf. AS. Organ, fr. L. Organum. A wind instrument containing numerous pipes of various dimensions and kinds, which are filled with wind from a bellows, and played upon by means of keys similar to those of a piano, and sometimes by foot keys or pedals; formerly used in the plural, each pipe being considired an organ. "The deep, majestic, solemn organs blow." (Pope) Chaucer used the form orgon as a plural. "The merry orgon . . . That in the church goon [go]" Barrel organ, Choir organ, Great organ, etc. See Barrel, Choir, etc. Cabinet organ, a passage in which the tonic or dominant is sustained continuously by one part, while the other parts move. Origin: L. Organum, Gr.; akin to work, and E. Work: cf. F. Organe. See Work, and cf. Orgue, Orgy. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Organ

orexins
orexis
orexises
orf
orf virus
orfe
orfeome
orfes
orfray
orfrays
orfs
orful
org
org chart
orgal
organ-grinder
organ-specific
organ-specific antigen
organ console
organ consoles
organ culture
organ donation
organ donor
organ donors
organ grinder
organ grinders
organ loft
organ of Rosenmuller
organ of Rosenmüller

Literary usage of Organ

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann (1913)
"But from the twelfth century on, the organ became the privileged church ... According to the present legislation organ music is allowed on all joyful ..."

2. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"Special terms have been applied to these phases of growth ; when the upper surface of the organ is growing the more rapidly the growth is said to be ..."

3. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians by George Grove (1908)
"He learnt organ-building, and in 1703 we find him settl-t in that vocation at Strasburg. According :•> Hopkins and Rimbault ' he built the Strasb:»,: ..."

4. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London by Royal Society (Great Britain) (1843)
"On the organ of Hearing in Crustacea. By ARTHUR FARRE, MD, FRS Received ... ALTHOUGH the existence of an organ of hearing in the class Crustacea has not ..."

5. Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature by H.W. Wilson Company (1915)
"Musician 30:478 Jl '15 FIT «lyo organ music; organists organ blowers organ blowers' ... Musician 30:274-5 Ap '15 organ music Arranging for the organ. ..."

6. Proceedings of the ... Annual Convention by Religious Education Association (1905)
"So in the thirty-years' war in Germany, the organ was almost an asylum for ... The organ was the key to all of Bach's great works; the mold in which he ..."

7. Report (1900)
"Certain sections of Amia embryos which Professor Reighard obtained in 1895, led him to suspect that the organ in this form was of ..."

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