mantissa

American  

[man-tis-uh] / mænˈtɪs ə /

noun

1. Mathematics. the decimal part of a common logarithm.

2. Obsolete. an addition of little or no importance, as to a literary work.

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mantissa British  

/ mænˈtɪsə /

noun

1. the fractional part of a common logarithm representing the digits of the associated number but not its magnitude Compare characteristic

   the mantissa of 2.4771 is .4771

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mantissa Scientific  

/ măn-tĭs′ə /

1. The part of a logarithm to the base ten that is to the right of the decimal point. For example, if 2.749 is a logarithm, .749 is the mantissa.

2. Compare characteristic

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Etymology

Origin of mantissa

1860–65; < Latin, variant of mantisa addition, makeweight, said to be from Etruscan; logarithmic mantissa so called because it is additional to the characteristic or integral part (term introduced by H. Briggs)