exponent

American  

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

noun

• exponents
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• exponents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of exponent

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

Explanation

An exponent is a person who is a big promoter of something. Are you an exponent of the four-day school and work week? You may already know the mathematical meaning of exponent: a numeric notation showing how many times a number is multiplied by itself. How did exponent come to mean a strong advocate or promoter of something? Well, its Latin ancestor was a verb meaning "to put forth" and it's easy to see how this could be generalized to refer to people. After all, aren't you an exponent of freedom of expression?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exponent exponents

A few years later and a few hundred miles down the Eastern Seaboard, Bruce Springsteen, perhaps the greatest living exponent of the American song of the open road, issued the tragic and affecting “Atlantic City.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

Along with Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, he became a leading exponent of the Frankfurt School.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026

Its message was spread across the world in the 1970s by Marley — the faith’s most famous exponent.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2024

They also found that the gamma-ray flare distribution indicates that blazar neutrino emission may be dominated by flares for the weighting exponent >1.5.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2023

Had the Cabinet such a watchful and industrious exponent and commender as Callisthenes, never wearying, except possibly on Sunday, its success would be certain.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, June 21st, 1916 by Various

Applying exponents helps in grappling with inflationary numbers, whether monetary or cosmic, and is more practical than talking in exotic “-illions,” such as milli-millillion and killillion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

"Arsenal are the arch exponents at set-pieces. They are top of the Premier League, chasing the Champions League and are statistically the best team in the country."

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026

“You’re taking another two exponents of risk as you’re moving towards fusion away from fission.”

From Barron's ● Jan. 23, 2026

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 ● Feb. 11, 2025

And Vespucci had sailed 50 degrees south of the equator: this was not just the equatorial antipodes that some exponents of the two-spheres theory had envisaged.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• interpreter
• proponent