function word: Meaning and Definition of

func'tion word"

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a word, as a preposition, article, auxiliary, or pronoun, that chiefly expresses grammatical relationships, has little semantic content of its own, and belongs to a small, closed class of words whose membership is relatively fixed (distinguished from content word). Also called
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.