| demonstration | 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. <anatomy> 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. <mathematics> 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. <logic> Direct, or Positive, demonstration, 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. Origin: L. Demonstratio: cf. F. Demonstration. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| demonstration ophthalmoscope | <instrument> An ophthalmoscope by which the fundus may be seen simultaneously by more than one observer. (05 Mar 2000) |