quaternion
a group or set of four persons or things.
Bookbinding. four gathered sheets folded in two for binding together.
Mathematics.
an expression of the form a + bi + cj + dk, where a,b,c, and d are real numbers; i2 = j2 = k2 = −1; and ij = −ji = k, jk = −kj = i, and ki = −ik = j.
a quantity or operator expressed as the sum of a real number and three complex numbers, equivalent to the quotient of two vectors. The field of quaternions is not commutative under multiplication.
Origin of quaternion
1Words Nearby quaternion
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use quaternion in a sentence
Of course, each player also does his best to stop his opponent from forming his quaternion or file of four.
Three Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Do | AnonymousKeep forming threes as long as you can so as to force your opponent to stop the threatened quaternion.
Three Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Do | AnonymousHis days are thus described: from dawn to the third hour he copied rapidly, filling a (quaternion) each day.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume I of II) | Henry Osborn TaylorEven then the captain of the gate was replying to a question from the quaternion.
Ulric the Jarl | William O. StoddardShould neither player be able to form a quaternion, then the game is drawn.
Three Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Do | Anonymous
British Dictionary definitions for quaternion
/ (kwəˈtɜːnɪən) /
maths a generalized complex number consisting of four components, x = x 0 + x 1 i + x 2 j + x 3 k, where x, x 0 … x 3 are real numbers and i² = j² = k² = –1, ij = –ji = k, etc
another word for quaternary (def. 5)
Origin of quaternion
1Collins 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 quaternion
[ kwə-tûr′nē-ən ]
Any number of the form a + bi + cj + dk where a, b, c, and d are real numbers, ij = k, i2 = j2 = -1, and ij = -ji. Under addition and multiplication, quaternions have all the properties of a field, except that multiplication is not commutative.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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