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coefficient

noun

  1. number just before a variable
L227481 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: [ˌkəʊ.ɪˈfɪʃn̩t] / [ˌkəʊ.iˈfɪʃn̩t] / /ˌkoʊ.ɪˈfɪʃənt/

adj

Etymology: From French coefficient. Coined by French mathematician François Viète. Or influenced by (New) Latin coefficient-, which is the stem of coefficiens, which is a substantivation of the present active participle of coefficio, which comes from co- and efficio.

  1. Cooperating.

    And so our own idea of Christ compels us to admit that two factors, the one natural, the other supernatural, were coefficient in his entrance into human life;

    Nevertheless, there was some substance to the notion that acclaim and merit were coefficient.

noun

Etymology: From French coefficient. Coined by French mathematician François Viète. Or influenced by (New) Latin coefficient-, which is the stem of coefficiens, which is a substantivation of the present active participle of coefficio, which comes from co- and efficio.

  1. A constant by which an algebraic term is multiplied.
  2. An entry of a matrix.

    Notice that many of the terms of the matrices [Sᵉ] (e = 1, 2, 3) vanish. We call the non-vanishing coefficients of the matrix [Sᵉ] the stiffness coefficients of element e and we denote them by Kᵣₛᵉ.

    Definition 3.7. A lattice Λ is called an integral lattice if its Gram matrix has coefficients in ℤ.

  3. A number, value, or item that serves as a measure of some property or characteristic.

    Near-synonym: constant