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frequency

 - 4 dictionary results

fre⋅quen⋅cy

[free-kwuhn-see]
–noun, plural -cies.
1. Also, frequence. the state or fact of being frequent; frequent occurrence: We are alarmed by the frequency of fires in the neighborhood.
2. rate of occurrence: The doctor has increased the frequency of his visits.
3. Physics.
a. the number of periods or regularly occurring events of any given kind in unit of time, usually in one second.
b. the number of cycles or completed alternations per unit time of a wave or oscillation. Symbol: F; Abbreviation: freq.
4. Mathematics. the number of times a value recurs in a unit change of the independent variable of a given function.
5. Statistics. the number of items occurring in a given category.


Origin:
1545–55; < L frequentia assembly, multitude, crowd. See frequent, -cy


1. regularity, repetition, recurrence.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fre·quen·cy   (frē'kwən-sē)   
n.   pl. fre·quen·cies
  1. The property or condition of occurring at frequent intervals.

  2. Mathematics & Physics The number of times a specified periodic phenomenon occurs within a specified interval, as:

    1. The number of repetitions of a complete sequence of values of a periodic function per unit variation of an independent variable.

    2. The number of complete cycles of a periodic process occurring per unit time.

    3. The number of repetitions per unit time of a complete waveform, as of an electric current.

    4. The number of measurements in an interval of a frequency distribution.

    5. The ratio of the number of times an event occurs in a series of trials of a chance experiment to the number of trials of the experiment performed.

  3. Statistics

    1. The number of measurements in an interval of a frequency distribution.

    2. The ratio of the number of times an event occurs in a series of trials of a chance experiment to the number of trials of the experiment performed.


[Latin frequentia, multitude, from frequēns, frequent-, crowded, numerous, frequent.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

frequency

In physics, the number of crests of a wave that move past a given point in a given unit of time. The most common unit of frequency is the hertz (Hz), corresponding to one crest per second. The frequency of a wave can be calculated by dividing the speed of the wave by the wavelength. Thus, in the electromagnetic spectrum, the wavelengths decrease as the frequencies increase, and vice versa.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: fre·quen·cy
Pronunciation: 'frE-kw&n-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -cies
1 : the numberof individuals in a single class when objects are classified according to variations in a set of one or more specified attributes
2 : the number of repetitions of a periodicprocess in a unit of time
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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