composite function

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. a function obtained from two given functions, where the range of one function is contained in the domain of the second function, by assigning to an element in the domain of the first function that element in the range of the second function whose inverse image is the image of the element.

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Etymology

Origin of composite function

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Solve this problem by using a composite function.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

A composite function can be evaluated from a formula.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

A composite function can be evaluated by evaluating the inner function using the given input value and then evaluating the outer function taking as its input the output of the inner function.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

Decompose a composite function into its component functions.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

He proposed that every feature in a human—height, weight, intelligence, beauty—was a composite function generated by a conserved pattern of ancestral inheritance.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee