fraction
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: frăkʹshən
ipa: /ˈfɹæk.ʃən/
rhymes: -ækʃən
Forms: form: fractions
Etymology: Etymology tree
Middle English fraccioun
English fraction
From Middle English fraccioun (“a breaking”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French fraccion, from Medieval Latin fractio (“a fragment, portion”), from earlier Latin fractio (“a breaking, a breaking into pieces”), from fractus, past participle of frangere (“to break”) (whence English frangible), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (English break). Doublet of frazione.
Senses: examples: text: With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get[…]
ref: 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:
glosses: A part of a whole, especially a comparatively small part.
examples: text: Gasoline prices show the mill as a fraction, for example $3.59+⁹⁄₁₀.
topics: arithmetic
glosses: A ratio of two numbers (numerator and denominator), usually written one above the other and separated by a horizontal bar called the vinculum or, alternatively, in sequence on the same line and separated by a solidus (diagonal bar).
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A component of a mixture, separated by fractionation.
examples: text: […] The bread, when it is consecrated and made sacramental, is the body of our Lord; and the fraction and distribution of it is the communication of that body, which died for us upon the cross.
ref: a. 1668 (date written), Jeremy Taylor, “The History of the Life and Death of the Holy Jesus: Discourse XIX.”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume III, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC, page 290:
topics: Christianity
glosses: In a eucharistic service, the breaking of the host.
examples: text: I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
text: After kick-off was delayed because of crowd congestion, Torquay went closest to scoring in a cagey opening 30 minutes, when Danny Stevens saw a fierce shot from the edge of the area swerve a fraction wide.
ref: 2011 January 29, Chris Bevan, “Torquay 0-1 Crawley Town”, in BBC:
glosses: A small amount.
examples: text: Neither can the natural body of Christ be subject to any fraction or breaking.
ref: 1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC:
glosses: The act of breaking, or state of being broken, especially by violence.
Synonyms: word: fraction
Hypernyms: word: number
Derived terms: abfraction
biofraction
case fraction
common fraction
complex fraction
continued fraction
continued-fraction
decimal fraction
dyadic fraction
Egyptian fraction
ejection fraction
Euler's continued fraction formula
field of fractions
finite continued fraction
fractile
fractionable
fractional
fractional calculus
fractional distillation
fractional ideal
fractionalism
fractionalist
fractionality
fractionalization
fractionalize
fractionalizing
fractionally
fractional reserve banking
fractionary
fractionate
fractionation
fractionator
fraction bar
fractionise
fractionization
fractionize
fractionner
fraction slash
general continued fraction
generalized continued fraction
glycofraction
hypofraction
improper fraction
infinite continued fraction
interfraction
intrafraction
mass fraction
microfraction
mixed fraction
mole fraction
oligofraction
ordinal fraction
partial fraction
partial fraction decomposition
partial fraction expansion
periodic continued fraction
proper fraction
regular continued fraction
representative fraction
simple continued fraction
simple fraction
subfraction
top-heavy fraction
total ring of fractions
unit fraction
vanishing fraction
vulgar fraction
Related terms: word: fractal
word: fractious
word: fracture
word: fragile
word: fragileness
word: fragility
word: fragment
word: frail
word: frailness
word: frailty
word: frangibility
word: frangible
word: frangibleness
word: infract
word: infraction
word: infrangibility
word: infrangible
word: infrangibleness
word: infringe
word: infringeable
word: infringee
word: infringement
word: infringer
word: infringest
word: noninfringement
word: refract
word: refraction
word: refractive
word: refractory
word: refrangible
word: refringent
word: division
word: rational number
word: quotient
word: ratio
word: rate
word: portion
word: part
word: Appendix:Numbers
word: Appendix:Unicode/Number Forms
word: Appendix:English numerals § Fractions
word: Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 100a. Fraction
word: :Category:English fractional numbers