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imaginary unit

American  

noun

Mathematics.
  1. the complex number i.


Etymology

Origin of imaginary unit

First recorded in 1905–10


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

We will use the imaginary unit to simplify the square roots of negative numbers.

From Textbooks ● May 6, 2020

The number i is the imaginary unit, a square root of -1.

From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2018

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