fractal
English
WOTD – 18 October 2010
Etymology
From French fractal, from Latin fractus (“broken”), perfect passive participle of frangō (“break, fragment”).
Noun
fractal (plural fractals)
- (mathematics) A mathematical set that has a non-integer and constant Hausdorff dimension; a geometric figure that is self-similar at all scales.
- (figuratively) An object, system, or idea that exhibits a fractal-like property.
- 1999, John J. McGonagle, Carolyn M. Vella, The Internet Age of Competitive Intelligence, →ISBN.
- In essence, you are assuming that each segment of a company is a fractal of the whole […]
- 1999, John J. McGonagle, Carolyn M. Vella, The Internet Age of Competitive Intelligence, →ISBN.
Hyponyms
- See also Thesaurus:fractal
Derived terms
Translations
self-similar geometric figure
figure irregular at all scales
Adjective
fractal (not comparable)
- (mathematics) Having the form of a fractal.
- 2015 January 26, Mark Diacono, “How to grow and cook cauliflower, 2015's trendiest veg: Tricky to grow, boring to boil ... so why is the outmoded cauliflower back at the culinary cutting edge? [print version: Cauliflower power, 24 January 2015, pp. G1 & G3]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening):
- Romanesco was my gateway cauli and I've never stopped growing it. Not a variety as much as its own thing, Romanesco is a cauliflower to the French, a calabrese to the Italians. […] Visually, it may be the most remarkable thing you can grow: it is made up of lime-green mini-spirals that coil around themselves in fractal formation.
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- (figuratively) Exhibiting a fractal-like property.
- 2007, Vincent Spina, "Three Central American writers: alone between two cultures" in Carlota Caulfield, Darién J. Davis (eds) Companion to United States Latino Literatures, →ISBN.
- A fractal situation emerges in this way then: the consequences of Ulysses' decision to abandon Calypso are not entirely predictable.
- 2007, Vincent Spina, "Three Central American writers: alone between two cultures" in Carlota Caulfield, Darién J. Davis (eds) Companion to United States Latino Literatures, →ISBN.
Derived terms
Translations
having the form of a fractal
See also
fractal on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - Mandelbrot set
- Julia set
Catalan
French
Etymology
Coined by Benoît Mandelbrot in 1975, from Latin fractus + -al.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fʁak.tal/
Adjective
fractal (feminine singular fractale, masculine plural fractaux, feminine plural fractales)
Further reading
- “fractal” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Portuguese
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɾaɡˈtal/, [fɾaɣˈt̪al]
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