Definition of Magnitude

1. Noun. The property of relative size or extent (whether large or small). "About the magnitude of a small pea"


2. Noun. A number assigned to the ratio of two quantities; two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other; the number of magnitudes that the quantities differ is specified to within a power of 10.
Exact synonyms: Order Of Magnitude
Generic synonyms: Ratio

3. Noun. Relative importance. "A problem of the first magnitude"
Specialized synonyms: Extensiveness, Largeness
Generic synonyms: Importance
Derivative terms: Magnify

Definition of Magnitude

1. n. Extent of dimensions; size; -- applied to things that have length, breadth, and thickness.

Definition of Magnitude

1. Noun. The absolute or relative size, extent or importance of something. ¹

2. Noun. (mathematics) A number, assigned to something, such that it may be compared to others numerically ¹

3. Noun. (mathematics) Of a vector, the norm, most commonly, the two-norm. ¹

4. Noun. (astronomy) The apparent brightness of a star (on a negative, logarithmic scale); apparent magnitude ¹

5. Noun. (geology) A measure of the energy released by an earthquake (e.g. on the Richter scale). ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Magnitude

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Magnitude

1. 1. Extent of dimensions; size; applied to things that have length, breath, and thickness. "Conceive those particles of bodies to be so disposed amongst themselves, that the intervals of empty spaces between them may be equal in magnitude to them all." (Sir I. Newton) 2. That which has one or more of the three dimensions, length, breadth, and thickness. 3. Anything of which greater or less can be predicated, as time, weight, force, and the like. 4. Greatness; grandeur. "With plain, heroic magnitude of mind." 5. Greatness, in reference to influence or effect; importance; as, an affair of magnitude. "The magnitude of his designs." (Bp. Horsley) Apparent magnitude, the angular breadth of an object viewed as measured by the angle which it subtends at the eye of the observer; called also apparent diameter. Magnitude of a star, the rank of a star with respect to brightness. About twenty very bright stars are said to be of first magnitude, the stars of the sixth magnitude being just visible to the naked eye. Telescopic stars are classified down to the twelfth magnitude or lower. The scale of the magnitudes is quite arbitrary, but by means of photometers, the classification has been made to tenths of a magnitude. Origin: L. Magnitudo, from magnus great. See Master, and cf. Maxim. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Magnitude

magnifier
magnifiers
magnifies
magnify
magnifying
magniloquence
magniloquences
magniloquent
magniloquently
magniloquous
magnino
magninos
magnisonant
magnitude (current term)
magnitude relation
magnitudes
magnium
magno-therapy
magnocellular
magnocellular neuron
magnochromite
magnolia
magnolia family
magnolia warbler
magnoliaceous
magnolias
magnoliid
magnoliid dicot family

Literary usage of Magnitude

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Kant's Kritik of Judgment by Immanuel Kant (1892)
"But since the magnitude of the measure must then be assumed known, and this again is only to be estimated mathematically by means of numbers,—the unit of ..."

2. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society by Royal Astronomical Society (1891)
"Preliminary Note on the Change of Personal Equation with Stellar magnitude in Transits observed with the Transit Circle at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. ..."

3. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific by Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1901)
"Four out of the six regions covered by the photographs show stars from 8.7 to 9.3 visual magnitude. These were the first two sets of exposures. ..."

4. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1853)
"Under the ordinary circumstances of vision, when an object changes its distance from the observer, the magnitude of the pictures on the ..."

5. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy by Karl Marx (1906)
"magnitude OF CAPITAL ADVANCED. The proportion in which surplus-value breaks up into capital and revenue being given, the magnitude of the capital ..."

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