Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An object whose parts, at infinitely many levels of magnification, appear geometrically similar to the whole. Fractals are used in the design of compact antennas and for computer modeling of natural-looking structures like clouds and trees.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun mathematics (Can we
verify (+) this sense?) Ageometric figure that repeats itself under several levels of magnification, and that showsself-similarity on all scales. - noun mathematics (Can we
verify (+) this sense?) A geometric figure that appearsirregular at allscales oflength , e.g. afern . - adjective mathematics Having the form of a fractal.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (mathematics) a geometric pattern that is repeated at every scale and so cannot be represented by classical geometry
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word fractal.
Examples
-
Benoît Mandelbrot was that IBM employee who successfully measured the coastline of England in 1967, coined the term fractal in 1975 and opened new worlds in mathematics and now, I believe, human emotional understanding.
Fractal Geometry, Human Emotion and Social Marketing - Tom Troja - MediaBizBloggers 2009
-
Benoît Mandelbrot was that IBM employee who successfully measured the coastline of England in 1967, coined the term fractal in 1975 and opened new worlds in mathematics and now, I believe, human emotional understanding.
Fractal Geometry, Human Emotion and Social Marketing - Tom Troja - MediaBizBloggers 2009
-
Ancient Celts believed in a giant man, the Greeks observed some basic shapes, the word "fractal" was coined in the Seventies.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011
-
Ancient Celts believed in a giant man, the Greeks observed some basic shapes, the word "fractal" was coined in the Seventies.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011
-
A fractal is a geometric shape with a pattern that repeats itself at different scales of magnitude.
-
As such, I was not aware of the startling developments in fractal-firework technology.
-
As such, I was not aware of the startling developments in fractal-firework technology.
-
Storm goes to Egypt to help out on old friend, taking Jubilee, and getting involved in fractal magic.
Superhero Prose Fiction: X-Men - The Ultimate X-Men 09 Order From Chaos Blue Tyson 2007
-
Storm goes to Egypt to help out on old friend, taking Jubilee, and getting involved in fractal magic.
Superhero Prose Fiction: X-Men - Ultimate X-Men Blue Tyson 2007
-
Storm goes to Egypt to help out on old friend, taking Jubilee, and getting involved in fractal magic.
Archive 2007-11-01 Blue Tyson 2007
bilby commented on the word fractal
"We could more easily re-invent public schools by volunteering our time to them directly, instead of sending our kids to private schools while we sign petitions for government to re-prioritize. And even in health care, we’d end up cutting everyone’s costs by commuting less, smoking less, landscaping less, and, yes, hating less. For each of these actions triggers different responses, undermines industries, requires new legal structures, and so on. It’s tiny, but it’s almost fractal in its impact."
- Douglas Rushkoff, An End to Movements, arthurmag.com, 15 Aug 2009.
September 27, 2009
susanmarieanderson commented on the word fractal
i love you site! i just read about it in last week's nyt mag section, am a writer, will use wordnik constantly, what a service! thank you, susan anderson (author of JOURNEY FROM ABANDONMENT TO HEALING)
December 25, 2009
JTroyer commented on the word fractal
"From above it's fractal." The Shack by WM Paul.
September 29, 2010