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) (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) A geometric figure that repeats itself under several levels of magnification, and that shows self-similarity on all scales.
2. (mathematics) (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) A geometric figure that appears irregular at all scales of length, e.g. a fern.

Hyponyms

• See also Wikisaurus:fractal

Derived terms

• fractal dimension
• 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) (fraktal) m
• Spanish: fractal (es) m
• Swedish: fraktal (sv) c

figure irregular at all scales

• Catalan: fractal (ca) m
• Czech: fraktál (cs) 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) (fraktalʹnyj)
• Spanish: fractal (es)

See also

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

Anagrams

• flatcar

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Catalan

Pronunciation

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

Noun

fractal m (plural fractals)

1. fractal

Adjective

fractal m, f (masculine and 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 (feminine fractale, masculine plural fractaux, feminine plural fractales)

1. fractal

Noun

fractal m (plural fractals)

1. fractal