rational function

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. a function that can be written as the quotient of two polynomials with integral coefficients.

---

Etymology

Origin of rational function

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

The rational function will be represented by a quotient of polynomial functions.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

Can a graph of a rational function have no x-intercepts?

From Textbooks • Sep. 23, 2020

Figure 4.54 The graph of this rational function approaches the horizontal asymptote y = 0 as x → ±∞.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

Since f is a rational function, divide the numerator and denominator by the highest power in the denominator: x2.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

Thus the operations which consist in replacing x by nx and by x/n respectively, in any rational function of x, are definite inverse operations, if n is any assigned number except zero.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various