exponent

American  

[ik-spoh-nuhnt, ek-spoh-nuhnt] / ɪkˈspoʊ nənt, ˈɛk spoʊ nənt /

noun

1. a person or thing that expounds, explains, or interprets.

   an exponent of modern theory in the arts.

   Synonyms:

   promoter, proponent, champion, supporter

2. a person or thing that is a representative, advocate, type, or symbol of something.

   Lincoln is an exponent of American democracy.

   Synonyms:

   personification, embodiment

3. Mathematics. a symbol or number placed above and after another symbol or number to denote the power to which the latter is to be raised.

   The exponents of the quantities xn, 2m, y4, and 35 are, respectively, n, m, 4, and 5.

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exponent British  

/ ɪkˈspəʊnənt /

noun

1. (usually foll by of) a person or thing that acts as an advocate (of an idea, cause, etc)

2. a person or thing that explains or interprets

3. a performer or interpretive artist, esp a musician

4. Also called: power.   index.  maths a number or variable placed as a superscript to the right of another number or quantity indicating the number of times the number or quantity is to be multiplied by itself

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adjective

1. offering a declaration, explanation, or interpretation

exponent Scientific  

/ ĕk′spō′nənt,ĭk-spō′nənt /

1. A number or symbol, placed above and to the right of the expression to which it applies, that indicates the number of times the expression is used as a factor. For example, the exponent 3 in 5 ³ indicates 5 × 5 × 5; the exponent x in (a + b) ^x indicates (a + b) multiplied by itself x times.

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Etymology

Origin of exponent

1575–85; < Latin expōnent- (stem of expōnēns ), present participle of expōnere to expound; -ent

Example Sentences

Podhoretz and his friend Irving Kristol—also a Brooklyn Jew and a former leftist—were the two foremost exponents of neoconservatism.

From The Wall Street Journal

Stories multiply like toadstools in forest loam in the fiction of Thomas Pynchon, America’s most devout skeptic of the narrative urge, yet also one of its greatest exponents.

From The Wall Street Journal

But who are the greatest exponents of the long throw?

From BBC

And there are plenty more exponents who continue to shun convention and go with longer implements.

From BBC

On a recent Friday, second-year instructor Nathalie Robles was teaching Compton High 11th-graders about exponents in her integrated math class — and had multiple strategies to make sure students were keeping up.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• interpreter
• proponent