quaternion

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Related to Quarterion: quaternion

qua·ter·ni·on

(kwə-tûr′nē-ən)

1. A set of four persons or items.

2. Mathematics 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 multiplication is not commutative.

[Middle English quaternioun, from Late Latin quaterniō, quaterniōn-, from Latin quaternī, by fours, from quater, four times; see k^wetwer- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

quaternion

(kwəˈtɜːnɪən)

1. (Mathematics) maths a generalized complex number consisting of four components, x = x0 + x1i + x2j + x3k, where x, x0…x3 are real numbers and i² = j² = k² = –1, ij = –ji = k, etc

2. another word for quaternary⁵

[C14: from Late Latin quaterniōn, from Latin quaternī four at a time]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

qua•ter•ni•on

(kwəˈtɜr ni ən)

n.

1. a group or set of four persons or things.

2. a generalization of a complex number to four dimensions with three different imaginary units in which a number is represented as the sum of a real scalar and three real numbers multiplying each of the three imaginary units.

[1350–1400; Middle English quaternioun < Late Latin quaterniō= Latin quatern(ī) four at a time + -iō -ion]

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