fractal

English

WOTD - 18 October 2010    

A Julia set fractal

Etymology

From French fractal, from Latin fractus (“broken”), perfect passive participle of frangō (“break, fragment”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˈfɹæk.təl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

fractal (plural fractals)

1. (mathematics) A geometric figure which has a Hausdorff dimension which is greater than its topological dimension
2. (mathematics) A geometric figure that appears irregular at all scales of length, e.g. a fern.

Hyponyms

• See also Wikisaurus:fractal

Derived terms

• multifractal

Translations

self-similar geometric figure

Armenian: ֆրակտալ (hy) (fraktal) Catalan: fractal (ca) m. Czech: fraktál (cs) m. Finnish: fraktaali (fi) French: fractal (fr) m., fractale (fr) m. German: Fraktal (de) n. Greek: μορφόκλασμα (el) (morfóklasma) n.

Italian: frattale (it) m. Macedonian: фрактал (mk) (fraktál) m. Norwegian: fraktal (no) m. Polish: fraktal (pl) m. Russian: фрактал (ru) m. Spanish: fractal (es) m. Swedish: fraktal (sv) c.

figure irregular at all scales

Catalan: fractal (ca) m. Esperanto: fraktalo (eo) Finnish: fraktaali (fi) German: Fraktal (de) n. Greek: μορφόκλασμα (el) (morfóklasma) n.

Italian: frattale (it) m. Macedonian: фрактал (mk) (fraktál) m. Norwegian: fraktal (no) m. Spanish: fractal (es) m. Swedish: fraktal (sv) c.

Adjective

fractal (not comparable)

1. (mathematics) Having the form of a fractal.

Derived terms

• fractal antenna
• fractal dimension
• fractal response time

Translations

having the form of a fractal

Catalan: fractal (ca) Czech: fraktální (cs) Finnish: fraktaalinen (fi) French: fractal (fr) German: fraktal (de) Greek: μορφοκλασματικός (el) (morfoklasmatikós) m.

Italian: frattale (it) Norwegian: fraktal (no) Polish: fraktalny (pl) m. Romanian: please add this translation if you can Russian: фрактальный (ru) Spanish: fractal (es)

See also

• Fractal on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Mandelbrot set
• Julia set

Anagrams

• flatcar

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fɾəkˈtaɫ/, SAMPA: /f4@k"ta5/
• Rhymes: -aɫ

Noun

fractal m. (plural fractals)

1. fractal

Adjective

fractal m. (feminine fractal, masculine plural fractals, feminine plural fractals)

1. fractal

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French

Etymology

Coined by Benoît Mandelbrot in 1975, from Latin fractus + -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fʁaktal/

Adjective

fractal m. (f. fractale, m. plural fractaux, f. plural fractales)

1. fractal

Noun

fractal m. (plural fractals)

1. fractal