A functorF from a category\mathbf {C} to a category\mathbf {D} consists of an object mapping that maps objects of \mathbf {C} to objects of \mathbf {D}, and a morphism mapping that maps morphisms of \mathbf {C} to morphisms of \mathbf {D} such that:
For each A \xrightarrow {m} B in \mathbf {C}, we have a morphism F(A) \xrightarrow {F(m)} F(B) in \mathbf {D}.
For each object A in \mathbf {C}, the equation F(\mathsf {id}_A) = \mathsf {id}_{F(A)} holds in \mathbf {D}.
For a pair of morphism A \xrightarrow {f} B \xrightarrow {g} C in \mathbf {C}, the equation F (g \circ f) = F(g) \circ F(f) holds in \mathbf {D}.