Etymology
From French coefficient. Coined by French mathematician François Viète. Or influenced by (New) Latin coefficient-, which is the stem of coefficiens, which is a substantivation of the present active participle of coefficio, which comes from co- and efficio.
Adjective
coefficient (comparative more coefficient, superlative most coefficient)
- Cooperating.
1850, August Neander, The Life of Jesus Christ in Its Historical Connexion and Historical ..., page 13:And so our own idea of Christ compels us to admit that two factors, the one natural, the other supernatural, were coefficient in his entrance into human life;
2005, Mathew Callahan, Boff Whalley, The Trouble with Music, page 12:Nevertheless, there was some substance to the notion that acclaim and merit were coefficient.
Noun
coefficient (plural coefficients)
- (mathematics) A constant by which an algebraic term is multiplied.
- (mathematics) An entry of a matrix.
- Synonyms: entry, term
2016, Anthony E. Armenàkas, Advanced Mechanics of Materials and Applied Elasticity, CRC Press, page 681:Notice that many of the terms of the matrices [Se] (e = 1, 2, 3) vanish. We call the non-vanishing coefficients of the matrix [Se] the stiffness coefficients of element e and we denote them by Krse.
2004, Frédérique Oggier, Emanuele Viterbo, Algebraic Number Theory and Code Design for Rayleigh Fading Channels, Now Publishers Inc, page 17:Definition 3.7. A lattice Λ is called an integral lattice if its Gram matrix has coefficients in ℤ.
- A number, value, or item that serves as a measure of some property or characteristic.
Hyponyms
(a number, value or item that serves as a measure of some property or characteristic):
Translations
measure of some property or characteristic
Translations to be checked