Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Fraction
1.
The act of breaking, or state of being broken, especially by violence.
[Obs.]
Neither can the natural body of Christ be subject to any
fraction
or breaking up. Foxe.
2.
A portion; a fragment.
Some niggard
fractions
of an hour. Tennyson.
3.
(Arith. or Alg.)
One or more aliquot parts of a unit or whole number; an expression for a definite portion of a unit or magnitude.
Common fraction
, or Vulgar fraction
a fraction in which the number of equal parts into which the integer is supposed to be divided is indicated by figures or letters, called the denominator, written below a line, over which is the numerator, indicating the number of these parts included in the fraction; as ½, one half, 2⁄5, two fifths.
– Complex fraction
, a fraction having a fraction or mixed number in the numerator or denominator, or in both.
Davies & Peck.
– Compound fraction
, a fraction of a fraction; two or more fractions connected by of.
– Continued fraction
, Decimal fraction
, Partial fraction
, etc. Improper fraction
, a fraction in which the numerator is greater than the denominator.
– Proper fraction
, a fraction in which the numerator is less than the denominator.
Frac′tion
,Verb.
T.
(Chem.)
To separate by means of, or to subject to, fractional distillation or crystallization; to fractionate; – frequently used with out;
as, to
. fraction
out a certain grade of oil from pretroleumWebster 1828 Edition
Fraction
FRAC'TION
,Noun.
1.
The act of breaking or state of being broken, especially by violence.2.
In arithmetic and algebra, a broken part of an integral or integer; any division of a whole number or unit, as 2/5, two fifths, 1/4, one fourth, which are called vulgar fractions. In these, the figure above the line is called the numerator, and the figure below the line the denominator. In decimal fractions, the denominator is a unit, or 1, with as many cyphers annexed, as the numerator has places. They are commonly expressed by writing the numerator only, with a point before it by which it is separated from the whole number; thus .5, which denotes five tenths, 5/10, or half the whole number; .25, that is 25/100, or a fourth part of the whole number.Definition 2024
fraction
fraction
English
Noun
fraction (plural fractions)
- 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 […]
- 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page vii
- A ratio of two numbers, the numerator and the denominator, usually written one above the other and separated by a horizontal bar.
- (chemistry) A component of a mixture, separated by fractionation.
- In a eucharistic service, the breaking of the host.
- A small amount.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:
- I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.
- 2011 January 29, Chris Bevan, “Torquay 0-1 Crawley Town”, in 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.
-
- The act of breaking, or state of being broken, especially by violence.
- Foxe
- Neither can the natural body of Christ be subject to any fraction or breaking up.
- Foxe
Quotations
- For usage examples of this term, see Citations:fraction.
Derived terms
Terms derived from fraction (noun)
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Related terms
Terms etymologically related to fraction
Translations
part of a whole
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arithmetic: ratio
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chemistry: component separated by fractionation
eucharistic service: breaking of the host
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Verb
fraction (third-person singular simple present fractions, present participle fractioning, simple past and past participle fractioned)
- To divide or break into fractions.
Translations
to divide into fractions
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References
- “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 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.