common divisor

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. a number that is a submultiple of all the numbers of a given set.

---

common divisor British  

noun

1. another name for common factor

---

common divisor Scientific  

1. A number that is a factor of two or more numbers. For example, 3 is a common divisor of both 9 and 15.

2. Also called common factor

---

Etymology

Origin of common divisor

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

There is a mathematical explanation for the auditory illusion in my example, sometimes called the missing fundamental: The perceived pitch is the greatest common divisor of the frequencies of the sine waves present.

From Scientific American • Feb. 24, 2018

There was no common divisor for all of the 300 cars shown.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Boiled down,” stated Bobby Hargrew, “to its last common divisor, it is ‘Where, oh, where shall we spend our vacation?’”

From The Girls of Central High in Camp Or, the Old Professor's Secret by Morrison, Gertrude W.

What'll he do wid the greatest common divisor an' the indicative mood an' the Sea of Azov, an' the Zambezi River, when he's learned 'em, anyhow?

From The Price of the Prairie A Story of Kansas by McCarter, Margaret Hill

Totitive, tot′i-tiv, n. a number less than another having with it no common divisor but unity.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various