exponential function
Americannoun
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the function y = ex .
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any function of the form y = bax , where a and b are positive constants.
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any function in which a variable appears as an exponent and may also appear as a base, as y = x 2x .
Etymology
Origin of exponential function
First recorded in 1890–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At wide-open throttle, the raunchiness doesn’t come in wild quanta but in one smoothly linear, incredibly steep exponential function, with no interval for tactility and feedback.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
The horizontal asymptote of an exponential function tells us the limit of the function’s values as the independent variable gets either extremely large or extremely small.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
The exponential function whose base is e, is called the natural exponential function.
From Textbooks ● Sep. 23, 2020
If you have a savings account, you have experienced the use of an exponential function.
From Textbooks ● Sep. 23, 2020
The quantity, PRT of progress made in the Tth generation contains T as an exponent, and so the quantity, varying as time T passes, is called an exponential function of the time.
From Manhood of Humanity. by Alfred Korzybski
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
