binomial

English

Etymology

Formed from Late Latin binōmium + -al. The derivation of binōmium is unclear. It was used by Gerard of Cremona in the 12th century. Suggested sources are the Latin nōmen (“name”), the Ancient Greek νομός (nomós, “distribution, pasture”), or the Old French nom (“name”). Compare binomy and binominal, as well as the French binôme.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /baɪˈnəʊ.mi.əl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /baɪˈnoʊ.mi.əl/

Adjective

binomial (not comparable)

1. Consisting of two terms, or parts.
   • 1992, Rhoda Rabkin, “The Aylwin Government and ‘Tutelary’ Democracy: A Concept in Search of a Case?”, in Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, volume 34, number 4, →JSTOR, page 139:

     Finally, instead of returning to Chile’s traditional proportional representation system, the law adopted the “binomial” system, which gave strong incentives to the parties to form broad coalitions.

2. (statistics) Of or relating to the binomial distribution.
   • 1991 November 23, D. J. Nokes, R. M. Anderson, “Vaccine safety versus vaccine efficacy in mass immunisation programmes”, in The Lancet, volume 338, number 8778, →DOI, page 1309:

     Assuming a normal approximation to binomial probabilities the proportion of total complications reported for 1979–85 in the age class 0–14 years was significantly higher than the proportion in the same age class for the period 1962–69 (p < 0·0001)

Derived terms

• binomial coefficient
• binomial distribution
• binomial nomenclature
• binomial series
• binomial theorem

 

Translations

consisting of two parts

• Bulgarian: двучленен (dvučlenen)
• Catalan: binomial
• Czech: binomický
• Dutch: tweeterm (nl)
• Esperanto: binoma
• Finnish: kaksiosainen (fi), binominen
• Icelandic: tvíliðu-, tvíliða
• Italian: binomiale (it)
• Malay: sukudua, binomial
• Polish: dwumianowy, binominalny (pl) (in taxonomy)
• Portuguese: binomial (pt)
• Spanish: binomial

Noun

polynomials by number of terms

Previous:	monomial
Next:	trinomial

binomial (plural binomials)

1. (algebra) A polynomial with two terms.
2. (algebra) A quantity expressed as the sum or difference of two terms.
3. (taxonomy) A scientific name at the rank of species, with two terms: a generic name and a specific name.
   • 1991, Daniel W. Gade, “Weeds in Vermont as Tokens of Socioeconomic Change”, in Geographical Review, volume 81, number 2, →JSTOR, page 169:

     Common name followed by Latin binomial in parentheses.

Usage notes

• Some people deprecate use of binomial and advocate use only of binominal in taxonomy. See species name for typesetting usage and example.

Synonyms

• (biology, taxonomy): binomen, binomial name, binominal, binominal name, species name
• (algebra): binome

Hypernyms

• (polynomial with two terms): polynomial

Derived terms

• frozen binomial

 

Translations

algebra: polynomial with two terms

• Bulgarian: двучлен m (dvučlen)
• Catalan: binomi m
• Esperanto: binomo
• Finnish: binomi (fi)
• French: binôme (fr) m
• German: Binom (de) n
• Greek: διώνυμο (el) m (diónymo)
• Hungarian: binom (hu)
• Icelandic: tvíliða f, tvíliða stærð f
• Italian: binomio (it) m
• Khmer: ទ្វិធា (tvi’tʰie), ទ្វេធា (km) (tveetʰie)
• Malay: sukudua, binomial
• Polish: dwumian (pl) m
• Portuguese: binómio (pt) m (Portugal), binômio (pt) m (Brazil)
• Romanian: binom (ro) n
• Russian: двучле́н (ru) m (dvučlén)
• Serbo-Croatian: binom (sh) m
• Slovene: binom m
• Spanish: binomio (es) m
• Swedish: binom (sv)
• Tagalog: duhakay
• Thai: ทวินาม

algebra: quantity expressed as sum of two terms

• Finnish: binomi (fi)
• Icelandic: tvíliða f
• Malay: sukudua, binomial
• Russian: двучле́н (ru) m (dvučlén)

scientific two-terms name — see binomial name

Anagrams

• Mobilian

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [bi.nu.miˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian) [bi.no.miˈal]
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

binomial m or f (masculine and feminine plural binomials)

1. binomial

Related terms

• binomi

Further reading

• “binomial” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

binomial (feminine binomiale, masculine plural binomiaux, feminine plural binomiales)

1. binomial

Derived terms

• nom binomial

Related terms

• binôme

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /bi.no.miˈaw/ [bi.no.mɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /bi.noˈmjaw/ [bi.noˈmjaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /bi.nuˈmjal/ [bi.nuˈmjaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /bi.nuˈmjal/ [bi.nuˈmjaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bi.nuˈmja.li/

• Hyphenation: bi‧no‧mi‧al

Adjective

binomial m or f (plural binomiais)

1. binomial (consisting of two parts)

Related terms

• binómio, binômio

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French binomial.

Adjective

binomial m or n (feminine singular binomială, masculine plural binomiali, feminine and neuter plural binomiale)

1. binomial

Declension

Declension of binomial

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	binomial		binomială	binomiali	binomiale
	definite	binomialul		binomiala	binomialii	binomialele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	binomial		binomiale	binomiali	binomiale
	definite	binomialului		binomialei	binomialilor	binomialelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /binoˈmjal/ [bi.noˈmjal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: bi‧no‧mial

Adjective

binomial m or f (masculine and feminine plural binomiales)

1. binomial

Related terms

• binomio

 

Further reading

• “binomial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014