[ik-spoh-nuh
nt or, especially for 3, ek-spoh-nuhnt] 
| 1. | a person or thing that expounds, explains, or interprets: an exponent of modern theory in the arts. |
| 2. | a person or thing that is a representative, advocate, type, or symbol of something: Lincoln is an exponent of American democracy. |
| 3. | Mathematics. a symbol or number placed above and after another symbol or number to denote the power to which the latter is to be raised: The exponents of the quantities xn, 2m, y4, and 35 are, respectively, n, m, 4, and 5. |
| ex·po·nent (ĭk-spō'nənt, ěk'spō'nənt) n.
[Latin expōnēns, expōnent-, present participle of expōnere, to expound; see expound.] |
A number placed above and to the right of another number to show that it has been raised to a power. For example, 32 indicates that 3 has been raised to a power of 2, or multiplied by itself; 32 is equal to 9.
| exponent (ěk'spō'nənt, ĭk-spō'nənt) Pronunciation Key
A number or symbol, placed above and to the right of the expression to which it applies, that indicates the number of times the expression is used as a factor. For example, the exponent 3 in 53 indicates 5 × 5 × 5; the exponent x in (a + b)x indicates (a + b) multiplied by itself x times. |
exponent programming
(Or "characteristic") The part of a floating-point number specifying the power of ten by which the mantissa should be multiplied. In the common notation, e.g. 3.1E8, the exponent is 8.
(1995-02-27)
