What does order of magnitude mean?

Definitions for order of magnitude
or·der of mag·ni·tude

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word order of magnitude.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. order, order of magnitudenoun

    a degree in a continuum of size or quantity

    "it was on the order of a mile"; "an explosion of a low order of magnitude"

  2. order of magnitude, magnitudenoun

    a number assigned to the ratio of two quantities; two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other; the number of magnitudes that the quantities differ is specified to within a power of 10

Wiktionary

  1. order of magnitudenoun

    The class of scale or magnitude of any amount, where each class contains values of a fixed ratio (most often 10) to the class preceding it. For example, something that is 2 orders of magnitude larger is 100 times larger, something that is 3 orders of magnitude larger is 1000 times larger, and something that is 6 orders of magnitude larger is a million times larger, because = 100, = 1000, and = a million.

Wikipedia

  1. Order of magnitude

    An order of magnitude is an approximation of the logarithm of a value relative to some contextually understood reference value, usually 10, interpreted as the base of the logarithm and the representative of values of magnitude one. Logarithmic distributions are common in nature and considering the order of magnitude of values sampled from such a distribution can be more intuitive. When the reference value is 10, the order of magnitude can be understood as the number of digits in the base-10 representation of the value. Similarly, if the reference value is one of some powers of 2, since computers store data in a binary format, the magnitude can be understood in terms of the amount of computer memory needed to store that value. Differences in order of magnitude can be measured on a base-10 logarithmic scale in “decades” (i.e., factors of ten). Examples of numbers of different magnitudes can be found at Orders of magnitude (numbers).

ChatGPT

  1. order of magnitude

    Order of magnitude refers to the size or extent of something quantifiable, classifying it within a certain numerical range or degree within a logarithmic scale. Typically, it is defined by powers of ten. In simpler terms, the order of magnitude gives a rough idea of the quantity of an object or concept, compared to other similar objects or concepts, with an emphasis on being approximately right rather than precisely accurate. For instance, if a quantity is in the hundreds, its order of magnitude is 2. If it's in the thousands, its order of magnitude is 3, and so on. This term is commonly used in scientific fields such as physics, astronomy, and engineering.

Wikidata

  1. Order of magnitude

    An order of magnitude is the class of scale or magnitude of any amount, where each class contains values of a fixed ratio to the class preceding it. In its most common usage, the amount being scaled is 10 and the scale is the exponent being applied to this amount. Such differences in order of magnitude can be measured on the logarithmic scale in "decades". The order of magnitude of a physical quantity is its magnitude in powers of ten when that physical quantity is expressed in powers of ten with one digit to the left of decimal. "We say two numbers have the same order of magnitude of a number if the big one divided by the little one is less than 10. For example, 23 and 82 have the same order of magnitude, but 23 and 820 do not." - John Baez

Matched Categories

How to pronounce order of magnitude?

How to say order of magnitude in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of order of magnitude in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of order of magnitude in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of order of magnitude in a Sentence

  1. Thomas Crowther:

    They store huge amounts of carbon, are essential for the cycling of nutrients, for water and air quality, and for countless human services, yet you ask people to estimate, within an order of magnitude, how many trees there are and they don't know where to begin. I don't know what I would have guessed, but I was certainly surprised to find that we were talking about trillions.

  2. Gretchen Bergstresser:

    We expect ongoing volatility for the balance of this year, and probably continuing in 2017, based on fund flows, increases in default rates and ongoing global events whether from China or elsewhere, loans will see ups and downs, but not to the same order of magnitude at all as the high-yield bond market.

  3. Charles Krauthammer:

    Who ordered the duck is the big question which you would expect to hear at a dinner party, but not at the center of a national campaign, i was far more offended by the Veritas tape that showed the planning for the violence and then blamed it on Trump, he added. I think that's at a high order of magnitude.

  4. Joel Wertheim:

    You can change [your estimates] by an order of magnitude by taking purifying selection into account.

  5. Gretchen Bergstresser:

    Loans will see ups and downs, but not to the same order of magnitude at all as the high-yield bond market.


Translations for order of magnitude

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for order of magnitude »

Translation

Find a translation for the order of magnitude definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"order of magnitude." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/order+of+magnitude>.

Discuss these order of magnitude definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for order of magnitude? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    candy and other sweets considered collectively
    A nuisance
    B disguise
    C confectionery
    D suffering

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for order of magnitude: