discriminant

American  

[dih-skrim-uh-nuhnt] / dɪˈskrɪm ə nənt /

noun

Mathematics.

1. a relatively simple expression that determines some of the properties, as the nature of the roots, of a given equation or function.

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discriminant British  

/ dɪˈskrɪmɪnənt /

noun

1. an algebraic expression related to the coefficients of a polynomial equation whose value gives information about the roots of the polynomial

   b² – 4ac is the discriminant of ax² + bx + c = 0

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Other Word Forms

• discriminantal adjective

Etymology

Origin of discriminant

First recorded in 1830–40; from Latin discrīminant-, stem of discrīmināns “separating,” present participle of discrīmināre “to divide up, separate,” verb derived from discrīmen (stem discrīmin- ) “separating line, distinction,” from discrī- (variant stem of discernere; discern ) + -men, noun suffix

Example Sentences

The newly applied method uses both traditional phylogenetic analysis, discriminant analysis as well as machine learning.

From Science Daily

That track record makes it “a perfect discriminant for whether there is going to be a recession or not,” he said.

From New York Times

To construct the three-way decoders, we used an established approach based on multiclass Fisher linear discriminant analysis that maximizes the ratio of the mean variances between the different classes to that within the individual classes21.

From Nature

"Unfortunately, many of these critics can get away with just suggesting that bombing more, or being less discriminant in how we approach that, would make a difference," he said.

From Los Angeles Times

Using linear discriminant analysis, a statistical technique that separates different classes of objects he developed scatterplots that separate individual instruments by luthier.

From Scientific American