Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or containing quantities of the second degree.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In algebra, involving the square and no higher power of the unknown quantity or variable of the second degree; of two dimensions.
  • In crystallography, tetragonal or dimetric: applied to the system that includes the square prism and related forms. See crystallography.
  • noun In algebra, an equation in which the highest power of the unknown quantity is the second, the general form being
  • noun plural That branch of algebra which treats of quadratic equations.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a square, or to squares; resembling a quadrate, or square; square.
  • adjective (Crystallog.) Tetragonal.
  • adjective (Alg.) Pertaining to terms of the second degree.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective square-shaped
  • adjective mathematics of a polynomial, involving the second power (square) of a variable but no higher powers, as .
  • adjective mathematics of an equation, of the form .
  • adjective mathematics of a function, of the form .
  • noun mathematics A quadratic polynomial, function or equation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a polynomial of the second degree
  • noun an equation in which the highest power of an unknown quantity is a square
  • adjective of or relating to the second power
  • adjective of or relating to or resembling a square

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From quadrate.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Confer French quadratique.

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Examples

  • Then he got out note-book and algebra and lost himself in quadratic equations, while the hours slipped by, and the stars dimmed, and the gray of dawn flooded against his window.

    Chapter 12 2010

  • Then he got out note-book and algebra and lost himself in quadratic equations, while the hours slipped by, and the stars dimmed, and the gray of dawn flooded against his window.

    Chapter 12 1908

  • By the way over the small range that you have plotted over a quadratic is a good approximation to an exponential which is exactly what would be expected from the radiative forcing of CO2.

    Rabett Run EliRabett 2009

  • However, the masses of scalar fields receive large corrections from quantum effects (so-called quadratic divergences) and, unless one fine-tunes the theory a truly ridiculous amount, the expected mass of the Higgs boson may be as high as the Planck scale - sixteen orders of magnitude higher than the weak scale.

    The LHC Olympics and the Mysteries of Mass Mark 2005

  • The Kerr effect, also called the quadratic electro-optic effect (QEO effect), is a change in the refractive index of a material in response to an applied electric field.

    Popular Posts Across MetaFilter Termite 2010

  • He solved Algebra equations of the first and second degree (known as quadratic equations, and are are prevelant in science and engineering) and also introduced the geometrical method of solving these equations.

    Documenting Reality royal 2010

  • By completing the square on a general quadratic equation in standard form we come up with what is called the quadratic formula.

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  • This is most commonly found in the industry and sometimes is known as a quadratic torque load.

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  • is called a quadratic expression in x. is called a quadratic equation in x.

    LearnHub Activities 2009

  • is called a quadratic expression in x. is called a quadratic equation in x.

    LearnHub Activities 2008

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