commensurable

American  

[kuh-men-ser-uh-buhl, -sher-uh-] / kəˈmɛn sər ə bəl, -ʃər ə- /

adjective

1. having the same measure or divisor.

   The numbers 6 and 9 are commensurable since they are divisible by 3.

2. suitable in measure; proportionate.

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commensurable British  

/ -ʃə-, kəˈmɛnsərəbəl /

adjective

1. maths

   1. having a common factor

   2. having units of the same dimensions and being related by whole numbers

      hours and minutes are commensurable

2. well-proportioned; proportionate

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Other Word Forms

• commensurability noun
• commensurableness noun
• commensurably adverb

Etymology

Origin of commensurable

1550–60; < Late Latin commēnsūrābilis, equivalent to Latin com- com- + mēnsūrābilis (equivalent to mēnsūrā ( re ) ( commensurate ) + -bilis -ble )

Example Sentences

Difficulties have resulted from the fact that these three periods are not commensurable; that’s a fancy way of saying that one does not divide evenly into any of the others.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

The analogous is not always the same as the commensurable.

From The Guardian • Jul. 15, 2011

The clear-cut, luminous, conception of the world which expresses everything in terms of commensurable concepts is thoroughly Aristotelian.

From Naturalism And Religion by Otto, Rudolf

It is obvious that every terminating continued fraction reduces to a commensurable number.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 2 "Constantine Pavlovich" to "Convention" by Various

Magnitudes commensurable, are those which one and the same measure doth measure: Contrariwise, Magnitudes incommensurable are those, which the same measure cannot measure.

From The Way To Geometry by Bedwell, William