tensor

[ ten-ser, -sawr ]

noun

1. Anatomy. a muscle that stretches or tightens some part of the body.
2. Mathematics. a mathematical entity with components that change in a particular way in a transformation from one coordinate system to another.

tensor

/ tɛnˈsɔːrɪəl; -sɔː; ˈtɛnsə /

noun

1. anatomy any muscle that can cause a part to become firm or tense
2. maths a set of components, functions of the coordinates of any point in space, that transform linearly between coordinate systems. For three-dimensional space there are 3 r components, where r is the rank. A tensor of zero rank is a scalar, of rank one, a vector

tensor

/ tĕn′sər,-sôr′ /

1. A structure of quantities arranged by zero or more indices, such as a scalar (zero indices), a vector (one index), or a matrix (two indices), which is invariant under transformations of coordinates.
2. Any of various muscles that stretch or tighten a body part, as the muscle that acts to tense the soft palate, called the tensor palati .

Derived Forms

• tensorial, adjective

Other Words From

• ten·so·ri·al [ten-, sawr, -ee-, uh, l, -, sohr, -], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tensor¹

1695–1705; < New Latin: stretcher, equivalent to Latin tend ( ere ) to stretch ( tend ¹ ) + -tor -tor, with dt > s

Word History and Origins

Origin of tensor¹

C18: from New Latin, literally: a stretcher

Example Sentences

The advantage of using tensors is that GPUs, the chips that have powered the deep learning revolution, are able to process them very quickly in parallel.

From Singularity Hub 

With the Pixel 6 line, Google started building its own custom Tensor chips like how Apple creates custom chipsets for each version of the iPhone.

From Popular-Science

The particular tensors used in this problem are three-dimensional arrays of numbers composed of many different parts, each of which looks like a small matrix multiplication problem.

From Quanta Magazine

Matrix multiplication and this problem involving tensors are equivalent to each other in a sense, yet researchers already had faster procedures for solving the latter one.

From Quanta Magazine

In their new proof, Alman and Vassilevska Williams reduce the friction between the two problems and show that it’s possible to “buy” more matrix multiplication than previously realized for solving a tensor problem of a given size.

From Quanta Magazine

But for practical effect, you'd be better off trying to explain the fundamentals of tensor calculus.

From The Daily Beast

At least they won't get angry and accuse you of heartlessly trying to kill them in order to save a few dollars on tensor fields.

From The Daily Beast

Three men sat around a table which was littered with graphs, sketches of mathematical functions, and books of tensor formulae.

From Project Gutenberg

The chief physiological antagonistics of the glutei are the quadriceps femoris and tensor fascia lata.

From Project Gutenberg

In the case of the malleus there may be some resistance owing to the attachment of the tendon of the tensor tympani muscle.

From Project Gutenberg

Hence his apt qualification of the drug, "a tensor par excellence of the vocal cords."

From Project Gutenberg

Fauvel who gave our wine the very striking and exact title of "Tensor of the vocal cords."

From Project Gutenberg