complex fraction

noun

Mathematics.

1. a fraction in which the numerator or the denominator or both contain one or more fractions.

complex fraction

noun

1. Also called: compound fraction. maths a fraction in which the numerator or denominator or both contain fractions

Word History and Origins

Origin of complex fraction¹

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

She explained it all to Elizabeth one day, behind their slates, when the complex fraction refused to become simple.

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When she jumped up from her easy-chair, she was trying to reduce the following complex fractions, into one simple one, and entirely failed.

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He cancels them out with the same delight as if they were figures in a complex fraction.

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It was such a bower of beauty that Elizabeth could scarcely believe she had stood there only yesterday, striving desperately to make a complex fraction turn simple.

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It was no easy task getting over her idle habits; and it was so easy when a complex fraction proved stubborn to turn one's slate into an easel.

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