definitions

square root

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noun

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.

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Nearby words

square one, square one's shoulders, square peg in a round hole, square piano, square rod, square root, square sail, square serif, square set, square shake, square shooter

Origin of square root

First recorded in 1550–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for square root

  • On a similar plan a tapering wedge acts as a square-root extractor, displacing water as the square of its depth of immersion.

    Inventors at Work|George Iles

British Dictionary definitions for square root

square root

noun

a number or quantity that when multiplied by itself gives a given number or quantity2 is a square root of 4, usually written √4 or 4 1/2
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

Science definitions for square root

square root

A number that, when squared, yields a given number. For example, since 5 X 5 = 25, the square root of 25 (written √25) is 5.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Culture definitions for square root

square root

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.

Note

The square roots of many numbers, such as three, are irrational numbers.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.