Definitions for: Organ


[n] (music) an electronic simulation of a pipe organ
[n] a free-reed instrument in which air is forced through the reeds by bellows
[n] 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
[n] a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
[n] a periodical that is published by a special interest group; "the organ of the communist party"
[n] a government agency or instrument devoted to the performance of some specific function; "The Census Bureau is an organ of the Commerce Department"



Webster (1913) Definition: Or"gan, n. [L. organum, Gr. ?; akin to ? work, and E.
work: cf. F. organe. See Work, and cf. Orgue, Orgy.]
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. (Biol.) 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.

Note: 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.] (Mus.) 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.

Note: 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 under
Barrel, Choir, etc.

Cabinet organ (Mus.), an organ of small size, as for a
chapel or for domestic use; a reed organ.

Organ bird (Zo["o]l.), a Tasmanian crow shrike ({Gymnorhina
organicum}). It utters discordant notes like those of a
hand organ out of tune.

Organ fish (Zo["o]l.), the drumfish.

Organ gun. (Mil.) Same as Orgue
(b) .

Organ harmonium (Mus.), an harmonium of large capacity and
power.

Organ of Gorti (Anat.), a complicated structure in the
cochlea of the ear, including the auditory hair cells, the
rods or fibers of Corti, the membrane of Corti, etc. See
Note under Ear.

Organ pipe. See Pipe, n., 1.

Organ-pipe coral. (Zo["o]l.) See Tubipora.

Organ point (Mus.), a passage in which the tonic or
dominant is sustained continuously by one part, while the
other parts move.


Or"gan, v. t.
To supply with an organ or organs; to fit with organs; to
organize. [Obs.]

Thou art elemented and organed for other apprehensions.
--Bp.
Mannyngham.

Synonyms: electric organ, electronic organ, Hammond organ, harmonium, pipe organ, reed organ

See Also: agency, anlage, authority, body part, bureau, cell organ, clapper, clavier, contractile organ, contractor, crystalline lens, ctene, effector, electronic instrument, end organ, erectile organ, external organ, federal agency, fingerboard, foot, foot lever, foot pedal, free-reed instrument, gland, glossa, government agency, house organ, internal organ, invertebrate foot, keyboard, lens, lingua, lobe, office, organ pipe, organelle, ovipositor, pedal, periodical, piano keyboard, pipe, pipework, primordium, receptor, reproductive organ, secreter, secretor, secretory organ, sense organ, sensory receptor, sex organ, speech organ, stinger, stop, sucker, taret organ, target organ, tongue, treadle, viscus, vital organ, vitals, vocal organ, wind, wind instrument, wing

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