absolute value

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noun Mathematics.

Also called numerical value. the magnitude of a quantity, irrespective of sign; the distance of a quantity from zero. The absolute value of a number is symbolized by two vertical lines, as |3| or |−3| is equal to 3.

the square root of the sum of the squares of the real and imaginary parts of a given complex number, as |a + bi| is equal to .

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Also called modulus.

Origin of absolute value

First recorded in 1905–10

Words nearby absolute value

absolute space, absolute temperature, absolute temperature scale, absolute threshold, absolute unit, absolute value, absolute viscosity, absolute zero, absolution, absolutism, absolutive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use absolute value in a sentence

These market forces leave every other online media organization to fight over crumbs and potentially face an extinction moment if they cannot harness the absolute value of their audiences on and offsite.
Splitting the atom: Decoupling audience from inventory unleashes power of pubs|Trevor Grigoruk|February 9, 2021|Digiday
But left us not forget that no service has a fixed and absolute value, compared with others.
Essays on Political Economy|Frederic Bastiat
I attribute the same absolute value to the physical sciences.
Major Prophets of To-Day|Edwin E. Slosson
The absolute value of a thing, then, is its cost in time and expense.
What is Property?|P. J. Proudhon

Most assayers, however, using a micrometer in this way, would like to know its absolute value.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
Those of the first kind give the absolute value of the magnetic elements at the time of observation.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 3|Various

British Dictionary definitions for absolute value

absolute value

noun maths

the positive real number equal to a given real but disregarding its sign. Written | x |. Where r is positive, | r | = r = | – r |

Also called: modulus a measure of the magnitude of a complex number, represented by the length of a line in the Argand diagram: | x + i y | = √(x ² + y ²), so | 4 + 3i | = 5

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for absolute value

absolute value

The value of a number without regard to its sign. For example, the absolute value of +3 (written |;+3|;) and the absolute value of -3 (written |;-3|;) are both 3.