fraction

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Contents

English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Middle English fraccioun (“a breaking”), from Anglo-Norman, from Medieval Latin fractio (“a fragment, portion”), from earlier Latin fractio (“a breaking, a breaking into pieces”), from fractus (English fracture), past participle of frangere (“to break”) (whence English frangible), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrag- (English break).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

fraction (plural fractions)

  1. A part of a whole, especially a comparatively small part.
    • 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page vii
      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 […]
  2. A ratio of two numbers, the numerator and the denominator, usually written one above the other and separated by a horizontal bar.
  3. (chemistry) A component of a mixture, separated by fractionation.
  4. In a eucharistic service, the breaking of the host.
  5. A small amount.
    • 2011 January 29, Chris Bevan, “Torquay 0 - 1 Crawley Town”, BBC:
      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.

Quotations [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Terms derived from fraction (noun)

Related terms [edit]

Terms etymologically related to fraction

Translations [edit]

part of a whole
arithmetic: ratio
chemistry: component separated by fractionation
eucharistic service: breaking of the host
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Verb [edit]

fraction (third-person singular simple present fractions, present participle fractioning, simple past and past participle fractioned)

  1. To divide or break into fractions.

Translations [edit]

to divide intio fractions

References [edit]

  • “fraction” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
  • “fraction” in The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
  • "fraction" in WordNet 3.0, Princeton University, 2006.

French [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

fraction f (plural fractions)

  1. fraction (small amount)
    Je me suis endormi pendant une fraction de secondes.
  2. (mathematics) fraction
    En divisant deux par trois, on obtient une fraction irréductible.
  3. fraction, breakup

Derived terms [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

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