mantissa
/mænˈtɪsə/ noun
Forms mantissas mantissae
- noun (obsolete) A minor addition to a text.
- noun (mathematics) The part of a common logarithm after the decimal point, the fractional part of a logarithm.
- noun (mathematics, computing) The significand; that part of a floating-point number or number in scientific notation that contains its significant digits.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin mantissa, mantīsa, of unknown origin (said by Festus to be a loanword from Etruscan, but it may actually be from Celtic, possibly through Etruscan mediation). Coincidentally, proparoxytone Greek μάντισσα (mántissa) means "female foreteller", as in χαρτομάντισσα (chartomántissa, “cartomancer”) or χειρομάντισσα (cheiromántissa, “chiromancer”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The decimal part of a logarithm, as distinguished from the integral part, or characteristic.
Etymology [L., an addition, makeweight; of Tuscan origin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mantissa”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details