demonstration

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act of showing or making evident.
2. n. Conclusive evidence; proof.
3. n. An illustration or explanation, as of a theory or product, by exemplification or practical application.
4. n. A manifestation, as of one's feelings.
5. n. A public display of group opinion, as by a rally or march: peace demonstrations.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of pointing out or exhibiting; an exhibition; a manifestation; a show: as, a demonstration of friendship or sympathy.
2. n. The exhibition and explanation of examples in teaching an art or a science, especially anatomy.
3. n. Milit., an exhibition of warlike intentions; a warlike attitude or movement; specifically, a military operation of any kind which may be performed for the purpose of deceiving the enemy respecting the measures which it is intended to employ against him.
4. n. A public exhibition, by a number of persons, of sympathy with some political or other cause, as in a mass-meeting or a procession.
5. n. Proof, either a process of stating in an orderly manner indubitable propositions which evidently cannot be true without the truth of the conclusion so proved, or the propositions so Stated. Properly, demonstration is restricted to perfect proof, especially mathematical proof. (See the extract from Burgersdicius, below.) According to the Aristotelian doctrine, which has greatly influenced the use of the word, demonstration must be drawn from principles not only self-evident, but also underived from any higher principles; and the conclusion must not only be shown to be true, but also to be a mere special case of the truth of one or more of the principles from which it is derived. It was supposed that this was the character of the best mathematical proofs; but mathematical proof consists in constructing a diagram or formula according to certain rules which prescribe that certain relations shall exist between the parts of that diagram, and then in showing by observation (directly or indirectly) that certain additional relations exist between those parts; and no important mathematical proof is of the nature of the Aristotelian demonstration. The word has consequently acquired two significations: first, its original sense of a perfect mathematical proof; second, the sense of a proof drawn from principles, as in the Aristotelian theory. There is also a third signification, according to which a demonstration is any proof which leaves no room for reasonable doubt, such as Kepler's proof that the orbit of Mars is an ellipse. Writers who adopt the Aristotelian view hold that the reductio ad absurdum and the Fermatian mode of proof, though entirely convincing, are not perfect demonstrations.
6. n. In Roman law, the formal statement of the plaintiff's claim in presenting his case to the court: somewhat analogous to the ‘declaration’ of the common law.

Wiktionary

1. n. The act of demonstrating; showing or explaining something.
2. n. An event at which something will be demonstrated.
3. n. A public display of group opinion.
4. n. A show of military force.
5. n. A mathematical proof.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of demonstrating; an exhibition; proof; especially, proof beyond the possibility of doubt; indubitable evidence, to the senses or reason.
2. n. An expression, as of the feelings, by outward signs; a manifestation; a show. See also sense 7 for a more specific related meaning.
3. n. (Anat.) The exhibition and explanation of a dissection or other anatomical preparation.
4. n. (Mil.) a decisive exhibition of force, or a movement indicating an attack.
5. n. (Logic) The act of proving by the syllogistic process, or the proof itself.
6. n. (Math.) A course of reasoning showing that a certain result is a necessary consequence of assumed premises; -- these premises being definitions, axioms, and previously established propositions.
7. n. a public gathering of people to express some sentiment or feelings by explicit means, such as picketing, parading, carrying signs or shouting, usually in favor of or opposed to some action of government or of a business.
8. n. the act of showing how a certain device, machine or product operates, or how a procedure is performed; -- usually done for the purpose of inducing prospective customers to buy a product.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. proof by a process of argument or a series of proposition proving an asserted conclusion
2. n. a public display of group feelings (usually of a political nature)
3. n. a show of military force or preparedness
4. n. a visual presentation showing how something works
5. n. a show or display; the act of presenting something to sight or view