Lexic.us

Definition of Reciprocal

1. Noun. Something (a term or expression or concept) that has a reciprocal relation to something else. "Risk is the reciprocal of safety"

2. Adjective. Concerning each of two or more persons or things; especially given or done in return. "Reciprocal privileges at other clubs"

3. Noun. (mathematics) one of a pair of numbers whose product is 1: the reciprocal of 2/3 is 3/2; the multiplicative inverse of 7 is 1/7.

4. Adjective. Of or relating to the multiplicative inverse of a quantity or function. "The reciprocal ratio of a:b is b:a"

5. Noun. Hybridization involving a pair of crosses that reverse the sexes associated with each genotype.

Definition of Reciprocal

1. a. Recurring in vicissitude; alternate.

2. n. That which is reciprocal to another thing.

Definition of Reciprocal

1. Adjective. Of a feeling, action or such: mutual, uniformly felt or done by each party towards the other or others; two-way. ¹

2. Adjective. Something that is contrary or opposite. ¹

3. Noun. (arithmetic) Of a number, the number obtained by dividing 1 by the given number; the result of exchanging the numerator and the denominator of a fraction. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Reciprocal

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Reciprocal

1. 1. Recurring in vicissitude; alternate. 2. Done by each to the other; interchanging or interchanged; given and received; due from each to each; mutual; as, reciprocal love; reciprocal duties. "Let our reciprocal vows be remembered." (Shak) 3. Mutually interchangeable. "These two rules will render a definition reciprocal with the thing defined." (I. Watts) 4. Reflexive; applied to pronouns and verbs, but sometimes limited to such pronouns as express mutual action. 5. Used to denote different kinds of mutual relation; often with reference to the substitution of reciprocals for given quantities. See the Phrases below. Reciprocal equation, those terms which have the same signification, and, consequently, are convertible, and may be used for each other. Synonym: Mutual, alternate. Reciprocal, Mutual. The distinctive idea of mutual is, that the parties unite by interchange in the same act; as, a mutual covenant; mutual affection, etc. The distinctive idea of reciprocal is, that one party acts by way of return or response to something previously done by the other party; as, a reciprocal kindness; reciprocal reproaches, etc. Love is reciprocal when the previous affection of one party has drawn forth the attachment of the other. To make it mutual in the strictest sense, the two parties should have fallen in love at the same time; but as the result is the same, the two words are here used interchangeably. The ebbing and flowing of the tide is a case where the action is reciprocal, but not mutual. Origin: L. Reciprocus; of unknown origin. 1. That which is reciprocal to another thing. "Corruption is a reciprocal to generation." (Bacon) 2. The quotient arising from dividing unity by any quantity; thus 1/4 is the reciprocal of 4; 1/(a + b) is the reciprocal of a + b. The reciprocal of a fraction is the fraction inverted, or the denominator divided by the numerator. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Reciprocal

recidivous recieve reciliation recind recipe recipelike recipes recipiangle recipiangles recipience

recipiency recipient recipient role recipients recipiomotor reciprocal (current term) reciprocal-inhibition therapy reciprocal altruism reciprocal altruisms reciprocal anchorage

reciprocal arm reciprocal beat reciprocal bigeminy reciprocal cross reciprocal forces reciprocal inhibition reciprocal innervation reciprocal ohm reciprocal pronoun reciprocal pronouns

Literary usage of Reciprocal

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

1. A Treatise on Conic Sections: Containing an Account of Some of the Most by George Salmon (1879)
"The eccentricity of the reciprocal hyperbola depending solely on the angle ... Again, the intersection of the asymptotes of the reciprocal curve (ie its ..."

2. A Treatise on the Analytic Geometry of Three Dimensions by George Salmon (1882)
"drawn from it to tbe surface, the reciprocal surface will have real points at infinity, that is to say, will bo a hyperboloid; when the origin is inside, ..."

3. A Treatise on the Analytic Geometry of Three Dimensions by George Salmon (1874)
"The reciprocal of a ruled surface (that is to say, of a surface generated by the motion of a right line) is a ruled surface. For to'a right line corresponds ..."

4. The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and by Hugh Chisholm (1910)
"A triangle and a trihedral angle are therefore reciprocal figures. To a surface ai locus of points corresponds, in the same manner, a surface as envelope of ..."

5. A Treatise on the Analytic Geometry of Three Dimensions by George Salmon (1865)
"But these lengths being inversely as OS, OT are also a radius vector, and perpendicular on tangent plane of the reciprocal of the apsidal. ..."

6. A Treatise on the Analytic Geometry of Three Dimensions by George Salmon (1862)
"But these lengths being inversely as OS, OT are also a radius vector, and perpendicular on tangent plane of the reciprocal of the apsidal. ..."

7. A Grammar of the German Language: Designed for a Thoro and Practical Study by George Oliver Curme (1922)
"THE reciprocal PRONOUNS. 144. When the pronoun shows that the action of the verb is mutual between two or more persons, it is called a reciprocal pronoun. ..."

Other Resources: