square root

noun

1. a quantity of which a given quantity is the square.

   The quantities +6 and −6 are square roots of 36 since (+6)×(+6)=36 and (−6)×(−6)=36.

square root

noun

1. a number or quantity that when multiplied by itself gives a given number or quantity

   2 is a square root of 4, usually written √4 or 41/2

square root

1. A number that, when squared, yields a given number. For example, since 5 × 5 = 25, the square root of 25 (written √25) is 5.

square root

1. A number that, when multiplied by itself, will result in a given number. The square root of four is two; the square root of one hundred is ten.

The square roots of many numbers, such as three, are irrational numbers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of square root¹

First recorded in 1550–60

Example Sentences

“It’s the square root of pi, so take the square root of 3.1416,” Kelly cracked of his team’s chances in that scenario.

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The whole process takes time proportional to the square root of the number of boxes: Increasing that number by a factor of 100 only increases the runtime by a factor of 10.

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England gave them the square root of nothing.

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Irrational numbers include, for example, the square root of 2, whose decimal representation is infinite without ever repeating.

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But instead the vectors had a ratio of the square root of 2—definitely an irrational number—showing that the polyiamond arrangements weren’t periodic.

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