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

Instead, we use the chain rule, which states that the derivative of a composite function is the derivative of the outer function evaluated at the inner function times the derivative of the inner function.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

Find the composite function that converts directly from U.S. dollars to U.S. dollars via Euros.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

Solve this problem by using a composite function.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

We can then evaluate the composite function by looking to the graph of finding the input of 3 on the axis and reading the output value of the graph at this input.

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