FRACTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fraction mean? 

• FRACTION (noun)
  The noun FRACTION has 3 senses:

1. a component of a mixture that has been separated by a fractional process

2. a small part or item forming a piece of a whole

3. the quotient of two rational numbers

  Familiarity information: FRACTION used as a noun is uncommon.

• FRACTION (verb)
  The verb FRACTION has 1 sense:

1. perform a division

  Familiarity information: FRACTION used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FRACTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A component of a mixture that has been separated by a fractional process

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("fraction" is a kind of...):

chemical; chemical substance (material produced by or used in a reaction involving changes in atoms or molecules)

Derivation:

fractionate (obtain by a fractional process)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small part or item forming a piece of a whole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("fraction" is a kind of...):

part; portion (something less than the whole of a human artifact)

Derivation:

fractional (constituting or comprising a part or fraction of a possible whole or entirety)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The quotient of two rational numbers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("fraction" is a kind of...):

rational; rational number (an integer or a fraction)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fraction"):

fixed-point part; mantissa (the positive fractional part of the representation of a logarithm; in the expression log 643 = 2.808 the mantissa is .808)

common fraction; simple fraction (the quotient of two integers)

improper fraction (a fraction whose numerator is larger than the denominator)

proper fraction (a fraction with a numerator smaller than the denominator)

complex fraction; compound fraction (a fraction with fractions in the numerator or denominator)

continued fraction (a fraction whose numerator is an integer and whose denominator is an integer plus a fraction whose numerator is an integer and whose denominator is an integer plus a fraction and so on)

Derivation:

fraction (perform a division)

• FRACTION (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fraction    ... he / she / it fractions   
Past simple: fractioned   
Past participle: fractioned   
-ing form: fractioning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Perform a division

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

divide; fraction

Context example:

Can you divide 49 by seven?

Hypernyms (to "fraction" is one way to...):

calculate; cipher; compute; cypher; figure; reckon; work out (make a mathematical calculation or computation)

Domain category:

arithmetic (the branch of pure mathematics dealing with the theory of numerical calculations)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fraction"):

halve (divide by two; divide into halves)

quarter (divide by four; divide into quarters)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fraction (the quotient of two rational numbers)

 Context examples 

A unit of fraction expressed as the ratio of the amount of substance of solute in moles to the amount of substance of the mixture in moles.

(Mole per Mole, NCI Thesaurus)

At this point, the fraction of each population remains unknown.

(Lone Planetary-Mass Object Found in Family of Stars, NASA)

Quantitatively, the ejection fraction is considered between 30% to 39%.

(Moderately Abnormal Ejection Fraction, NCI Thesaurus)

A cancer vaccine, containing human-specific large multivalent immunogen (LMI) isolated from plasma membrane fractions of the melanoma cell lines MSM-M1 and MSM-M2, with potential immunostimulating and antineoplastic activities.

(Allogeneic Large Multivalent Immunogen Melanoma Vaccine LP2307, NCI Thesaurus)

A relative measurement (ratio or percentage) of alpha-1-fraction proteins to total proteins in a biological specimen.

(Alpha-1 Globulin to Total Protein Ratio Measurement, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A unit of fraction expressed as the ratio of the amount of substance of solute in millimoles to the amount of substance of the mixture in moles.

(Millimole per Mole, NCI Thesaurus)

Multi-subtype natural human leukocyte IFN-alpha is purified from the leukocyte fraction of human blood challenged with Sendai virus.

(Multi-subtype Natural Human Leukocyte Interferon Alpha, NCI Thesaurus)

Io’s atmosphere is in a constant state of collapse and repair, and shows that a large fraction of the atmosphere is supported by sublimation of SO2 ice.

(New Research Reveals Fluctuating Atmosphere of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon, NASA)

About 3 times the mass of the sun was converted into gravitational waves in a fraction of a second — with a peak power output about 50 times that of the whole visible universe.

(Gravitational Waves Detected 100 Years After Einstein's Prediction, NASA)

Neutron stars are also called pulsars because their very fast rotation (typically fractions of a second, in this case 11 seconds) causes time-variable emission from light-emitting regions.

(Hubble Uncovers Never-Before-Seen Features Around a Neutron Star, NASA)