binomial

English

Etymology

Formed from Late Latin binōmium + -al. The derivation of binōmium is unclear. It was used by Gérard de Crémone in the 12th century. Suggested sources are the Latin nōmen (name), the Ancient Greek νομός (nomós, distribution, pasture), or the Old French nom (name). Compare binomy and binominal, as well as the French binôme.

Pronunciation

Adjective

binomial (not comparable)

  1. Consisting of two terms, or parts.
    • 1992, Rhoda Rabkin, “The Aylwin Government and ‘Tutelary’ Democracy: A Concept in Search of a Case?”, in Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, volume 34, number 4, JSTOR 165808, page 139:
      Finally, instead of returning to Chile’s traditional proportional representation system, the law adopted the “binomial” system, which gave strong incentives to the parties to form broad coalitions.
  2. (statistics) Of or relating to the binomial distribution.
    • 1991 November 23, D. J. Nokes; R. M. Anderson, “Vaccine safety versus vaccine efficacy in mass immunisation programmes”, in The Lancet, volume 338, number 8778, DOI:10.1016/0140-6736(91)92601-W, page 1309:
      Assuming a normal approximation to binomial probabilities the proportion of total complications reported for 1979–85 in the age class 0–14 years was significantly higher than the proportion in the same age class for the period 1962–69 (p < 0·0001)

Translations

Noun

polynomials by number of terms
Previous: monomial
Next: trinomial

binomial (plural binomials)

  1. (algebra) A polynomial with two terms.
  2. (algebra) A quantity expressed as the sum or difference of two terms.
  3. (taxonomy) A scientific name at the rank of species, with two terms: a generic name and a specific name.

Usage notes

  • Some people deprecate use of binomial and advocate use only of binominal in taxonomy. See species name for typesetting usage and example.

Synonyms

Hypernyms

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams


Catalan

Pronunciation

  • (Balearic, Valencian) IPA(key): /bi.no.miˈal/
  • (Central) IPA(key): /bi.nu.miˈal/

Adjective

binomial (masculine and feminine plural binomials)

  1. binomial

Further reading


French

Pronunciation

  • (file)

Adjective

binomial (feminine singular binomiale, masculine plural binomiaux, feminine plural binomiales)

  1. binomial

Portuguese

Adjective

binomial m or f (plural binomiais, comparable)

  1. binomial (consisting of two parts)

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /binoˈmjal/

Adjective

binomial (plural binomiales)

  1. binomial

Further reading

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