exponent
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (3)
- a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an ideaSynonyms: advocateadvocatorproponentType of actor, doerKinds spokesperson, communist, neutralist, supporter, Platonist, ideologist, secularist, apologist, democrat, republican +32 more
- someone who expounds and interprets or explainsType of intellectual, intellect
- a mathematical notation indicating the number of times a quantity is multiplied by itselfSynonyms: powerindexType of mathematical notationKinds degree, logarithm
a state or condition markedly different from the norm
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. exponens, -entis, p. pr. of exponere to put out, set forth, expose. See Expound.
1. Alg. A number, letter, or any quantity written on the right hand of and above another quantity, and denoting how many times the latter is repeated as a factor to produce the power indicated; thus a2 denotes the second power, and ax the xth power, of a (2 and x being the exponents). A fractional exponent, or index, is used to denote the root of a quantity. Thus, a⅓ denotes the third or cube root of a.
2. One who, or that which, stands as an index or representative; as, the leader of a party is the exponent of its principles.
3. one who explains, expounds, or interprets.
Exponent of a ratio, the quotient arising when the antecedent is divided by the consequent; thus, 6 is the exponent of the ratio of 30 to 5. rare
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: GCIDE editors
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
<programming> (Or "characteristic") The part of a floating-point number specifying the power of ten by which the mantissa should be multiplied. In the common notation, e.g. 3.1E8, the exponent is 8.
(1995-02-27)