Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I honestly just want to confirm something and I need people who understand English grammar better than myself to help me out here to see if this makes grammatical sense.
Does the word "function" in the sentence "healing is a function of magic" make grammatical sense, when the intended meaning is that healing is something that magic can be used to perform, or that healing is an application of magic? If not, can reasons for this, and potentially a correct alternative, be provided so that I do not make the same mistake in the future?
Thank you.
Answer
Yes.
Take a look at this [definition] of function as a noun1:
What something does or is used for.
That's how I'm reading your example: magic can be used for healing. Magic does healing. Healing is a function (one of perhaps several) of magic.
More generally, the structure of sentence you've written is pretty common in English. Here's two ways to think of it:
[Thing 1] is [a kind] [of thing 2].
Subject copula2 subject complement3
The part following the verb describes what the subject is. Function works fine in this respect, as would many nouns.
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