logarithm

[law-guh-rith-uh m, -rith-, log-uh-]

See more synonyms for logarithm on Thesaurus.com

noun Mathematics.

the exponent of the power to which a base number must be raised to equal a given number; log: 2 is the logarithm of 100 to the base 10 (2 = log10 100).

Origin of logarithm

1605–15; < New Latin logarithmus < Greek lóg(os) log- + arithmós number; see arithmetic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for logarithm

numeral, numerical, arithmetic, binary, exponent, fraction, fractional, integral, mathematical, statistical, algebraic, algorithmic, arithmetical, differential, digital, exponential, logarithm, logarithmic, numerary, integrated

Examples from the Web for logarithm

Historical Examples of logarithm

That was short for logarithm, you know, because I was such a log at arithmetic.
Adam Johnstone's Son
F. Marion Crawford
The complement of the logarithm of a sine, tangent, or secant.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
It seems that gravitation is not truth, but only the logarithm of it.
A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I (of II)
Augustus De Morgan
To find the logarithm of 2, Briggs raised it to the tenth power, viz.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 8
Various
For example, suppose the logarithm of 543839 required to twelve places.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 8
Various

British Dictionary definitions for logarithm

logarithm

noun

the exponent indicating the power to which a fixed number, the base, must be raised to obtain a given number or variable. It is used esp to simplify multiplication and division: if a x = M, then the logarithm of M to the base a (written log a M) is xOften shortened to: log See also common logarithm, natural logarithm

Word Origin for logarithm

C17: from New Latin logarithmus, coined 1614 by John Napier, from Greek logos ratio, reckoning + arithmos number

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for logarithm

1610s, Modern Latin logarithmus, coined by Scottish mathematician John Napier (1550-1617), literally "ratio-number," from Greek logos "proportion, ratio, word" (see logos) + arithmos "number" (see arithmetic).

logarithm in Science

logarithm

[lô′gə-rĭð′əm]

The power to which a base must be raised to produce a given number. For example, if the base is 10, then the logarithm of 1,000 (written log 1,000 or log10 1,000) is 3 because 103 = 1,000. See more at common logarithm natural logarithm.