exponential

[ ek-spoh-nen-shuhl, -spuh- ]

adjective

1. of or relating to an exponent or exponents.
2. Mathematics.
   1. of or relating to the constant e.
   2. (of an equation) having one or more unknown variables in one or more exponents none.
3. rising or expanding at a steady, rapid rate:

   a city experiencing exponential growth.

noun

1. Mathematics.
   1. the constant e raised to the power equal to a given expression, as e 3 x, which is the exponential of 3 x.
   2. any positive constant raised to a power.

exponential

/ ˌɛkspəʊˈnɛnʃəl /

adjective

1. maths (of a function, curve, series, or equation) of, containing, or involving one or more numbers or quantities raised to an exponent, esp e x
2. maths raised to the power of e, the base of natural logarithms exp
3. of or involving an exponent or exponents
4. informal.
   very rapid

noun

1. maths an exponential function, etc

exponential

/ ĕk′spə-nĕn′shəl /

1. Relating to a mathematical expression containing one or more exponents.
2. ◆ Something is said to increase or decrease exponentially if its rate of change must be expressed using exponents. A graph of such a rate would appear not as a straight line, but as a curve that continually becomes steeper or shallower.

Derived Forms

• ˌexpoˈnentially, adverb

Other Words From

• ex·po·nen·tial·ly adverb
• non·ex·po·nen·tial adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of exponential¹

First recorded in 1695–1705; exponent none + -ial none

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, the world has watched the exponential growth of wealth inequality and fossil-fuel-driven climate change.

From MIT Technology Review

To figure this out, some solvers fit exponential models directly to the data.

From FiveThirtyEight

As group size grows, 4VA concentration shoots up, potentially broadcasting a larger signal and contributing to the exponential growth of swarms.

From Science News

Scientists often describe trends that increase very dramatically as being exponential.

From Science News For Students

If everything goes to plan it may not be long before an army of robot scientists catapults us into a new age of exponential progress.

From Singularity Hub 

They started fast, grew at an almost exponential rate and then slowed, she wrote.

From The Daily Beast

The numbers are still small, but the growth has been exponential since the first atheist church service was held in January.

From The Daily Beast

Yet the exponential decline in the cost means that the threat posed by the fabrication of lethal bio-pathogens is rising.

From The Daily Beast

This trend will only make more sense as the exponential cost drop continues.

From The Daily Beast

It has annual revenues exceeding $6 billion, an exponential improvement from the 1990s.

From The Daily Beast

It multiplies and surges to its fulfillment at an exponential rate.

From Project Gutenberg

He pioneered the standard exponential notation for cubes and higher powers of numbers.

From Project Gutenberg

The inevitable outcome is an exponential explosion in computing and networking power.

From Project Gutenberg

The energy it would receive from the Sun as it approached, an exponential curve.

From Project Gutenberg