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monotonic

[ mon-uh-ton-ik ]
/ ˌmɒn əˈtɒn ɪk /
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adjective
of, relating to, or uttered in a monotone: a monotonic delivery of a lecture.
Mathematics.
  1. (of a function or sequence) either consistently increasing in value and never decreasing, or consistently decreasing in value and never increasing: A monotonic sequence can either converge or diverge, but it can never oscillate.
  2. (of an ordered system of sets) consisting of sets such that each set contains the preceding set or such that each set is contained in the preceding set.
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Origin of monotonic

First recorded in 1790–1800; monotone + -ic

OTHER WORDS FROM monotonic

mon·o·ton·i·cal·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH monotonic

monotonic , monotonous

Words nearby monotonic

monotherapy, monotint, monotocous, monotonal, monotone, monotonic, monotonically, monotonize, monotonous, monotony, monotrematous
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

MORE ABOUT MONOTONIC

What does monotonic mean?

Monotonic describes something of, related to, or said in a monotone, as in Minh fell asleep in history because of the professor’s monotonic voice.

When something sounds monotonic, its sound is a single pitch or tone, with changes, harmony, or background tones. Sometimes, parts of a song or speech will be purposely delivered monotonically, but usually something that is monotonic is considered boring.

In mathematics, monotonic describes a function or a portion of a function that is always increasing or decreasing. For example, a parabolic function plotted on a chart will always have a monotonic decreasing portion that decreases to zero, a point at 0,0, and a monotonic increasing portion rising up.

Example: His monotonic speech was so dull it put me to sleep in the first 10 minutes.

Where does monotonic come from?

The first records of the term monotonic come from the late 1700s. It combines the term monotone, meaning “sameness of tone or color,” and the suffix –ic, which forms adjectives from other parts of speech.

In calculus and advanced algebra, a system of numbers is monotonic when each subsequent set of numbers contains the last set or is contained within the last set. Monotonic sequences, similar to functions, will always be increasing or decreasing.

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How is monotonic used in real life?

Monotonic is most commonly used to describe someone’s voice or the color of something.

 

Try using monotonic!

Is monotonic used correctly in the following sentence?

The function had a monotonic increase and ended up crashing the program.

How to use monotonic in a sentence

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