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fractal

adjective

  1. self-similar
L34599 on Wikidata ↗

noun

  1. self-similar mathematical structure
L34600 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈfɹæk.təl/

adj

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

  1. Having the form of a fractal; having to do with fractals.

    Romanesco was my gateway cauli and I've never stopped growing it. Not a variety as much as its own thing, Romanesco is a cauliflower to the French, a calabrese to the Italians. […] Visually, it may be the most remarkable thing you can grow: it is made up of lime-green mini-spirals that coil around themselves in fractal formation.

  2. Exhibiting a fractal-like property.

    A fractal situation emerges in this way then: the consequences of Ulysses' decision to abandon Calypso are not entirely predictable.

noun

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

  1. A mathematical set that has a non-integer and constant Hausdorff dimension, corresponding to a geometric figure or object that is self-similar at arbitrarily small scales and thus has infinite complexity.
  2. An object, system, or idea that exhibits a fractal-like property, such as the property of self-similarity at numerous but not infinitely many scales.

    In essence, you are assuming that each segment of a company is a fractal of the whole[…]