Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Demonstration \Dem`on*stra"tion\, n. [L. demonstratio: cf. F.
d['e]monstration.]
1. The act of demonstrating; an exhibition; proof;
especially, proof beyond the possibility of doubt;
indubitable evidence, to the senses or reason.
Those intervening ideas which serve to show the
agreement of any two others are called ``proofs;''
and where agreement or disagreement is by this means
plainly and clearly perceived, it is called
demonstration. --Locke.
2. An expression, as of the feelings, by outward signs; a
manifestation; a show.
Did your letters pierce the queen to any
demonstration of grief? --Shak.
Loyal demonstrations toward the prince. --Prescott.
3. (Anat.) The exhibition and explanation of a dissection or
other anatomical preparation.
4. (Mil.) a decisive exhibition of force, or a movement
indicating an attack.
5. (Logic) The act of proving by the syllogistic process, or
the proof itself.
6. (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.
{Direct}, or {Positive}, {demonstration} (Logic & Math.), one
in which the correct conclusion is the immediate sequence
of reasoning from axiomatic or established premises; --
opposed to
{Indirect}, or {Negative}, {demonstration} (called also
{reductio ad absurdum}), in which the correct conclusion
is an inference from the demonstration that any other
hypothesis must be incorrect.
Source : WordNet®
demonstration
n 1: a show or display; the act of presenting something to sight
or view; "the presentation of new data"; "he gave the
customer a demonstration" [syn: {presentation}, {presentment}]
2: a show of military force or preparedness; "he confused the
enemy with feints and demonstrations"
3: a public display of group feelings (usually of a political
nature); "there were violent demonstrations against the
war" [syn: {manifestation}]
4: proof by a process of argument or a series of proposition
proving an asserted conclusion [syn: {monstrance}]
5: a visual presentation showing how something works; "the
lecture was accompanied by dramatic demonstrations"; "the
lecturer shot off a pistol as a demonstration of the
startle response" [syn: {demo}]