partial derivative

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noun Mathematics.

the derivative of a function with respect to one of its variables with all other variables held constant.

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Origin of partial derivative

First recorded in 1970–75

Words nearby partial derivative

Parthian shot, par-three, parti, partial, partial-birth abortion, partial derivative, partial differential, partial differential equation, partial differentiation, partial eclipse, partial fraction

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use partial derivative in a sentence

There were multiple algorithms for finding this minimum, from gradient descent to setting the partial derivatives of the variance expression to zero.
Can You Draft A Riddler Fantasy Football Dream Team?|Zach Wissner-Gross|August 27, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Despite the financial remedy, partial repeal of the screen quota has imperiled the domestic market.
Propaganda, Protest, and Poisonous Vipers: The Cinema War in Korea|Rich Goldstein|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Or perhaps Understanding, Partial Ignorance, and Total Ignorance.
Extreme Weather? Blame the End Times|Jay Michaelson|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A better taxonomy would break us up by words like Acceptance, Partial Denial, and Total Denial.
Extreme Weather? Blame the End Times|Jay Michaelson|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Kundera sees fiction as a realm of many partial truths, its only certainty “the wisdom of uncertainty.”
The Birth of the Novel|Nick Romeo|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He majored in mathematical physics, studying mind-bending theories of quantum mechanics and partial differential equations.
How the NSA Became a Killing Machine|Shane Harris|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Granular and fatty casts, therefore, always indicate partial or complete disintegration of the renal epithelium.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
The 'whole' of him that now dealt with Lettice was far above all minor and partial means of knowing.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
We merely tell thus much to account for her position and her partial refinement—both of which conditions she shared with Susan.
The Garret and the Garden|R.M. Ballantyne
How can the utmost success be expected to follow a partial use of the means of Divine grace?
The Ordinance of Covenanting|John Cunningham
The natives are partial to the plant, and devotedly attached to smoking.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.

British Dictionary definitions for partial derivative

partial derivative

noun

the derivative of a function of two or more variables with respect to one of the variables, the other or others being considered constant. Written ∂f/∂ x

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

Scientific definitions for partial derivative

partial derivative

[ pär′shəl ]

The derivative with respect to a single variable of a function of two or more variables, regarding other variables as constants.