scalar - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: scalar

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sca·lar

Audio Help [skey-ler] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	representable by position on a scale or line; having only magnitude: a scalar variable.

2.	of, pertaining to, or utilizing a scalar.

3.	ladderlike in arrangement or organization; graduated: a scalar structure for promoting personnel.

–noun

4.	Mathematics, Physics. a quantity possessing only magnitude. Compare vector (def. 1a).

[Origin: 1650–60; < L scālāris of a ladder. See scale³, -ar¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
scalar

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sca·lar Audio Help (skā'lər, -lär') Pronunciation Key
n.

1. A quantity, such as mass, length, or speed, that is completely specified by its magnitude and has no direction.
2. Mathematics A number, numerical quantity, or element in a field.
A device that yields an output equal to the input multiplied by a constant, as in a linear amplifier.

adj. Of or relating to a scalar.

[Latin scālāris, of a ladder, from scālae, ladder; see scale².]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
scalar

"resembling a ladder," 1656, from L. scalaris "of or pertaining to a ladder," from scalæ (pl.) "ladder, steps" (see scale (n.2)). Mathematical sense first recorded 1846.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

scalar
adjective
1.	of or relating to a musical scale; "he played some basic scalar patterns on his guitar"
2.	of or relating to a directionless magnitude (such as mass or speed etc.) that is completely specified by its magnitude; "scalar quantity"
noun
1.	a variable quantity that cannot be resolved into components

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

scalar Audio Help (skā'lər) Pronunciation Key
A quantity, such as mass, length, or speed, whose only property is magnitude; a number. Compare vector.

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

scalar
1. A single number, as opposed to a vector or matrix of numbers. Thus, for example, "scalar multiplication" refers to the operation of multiplying one number (one scalar) by another and is used to contrast this with "matrix multiplication" etc.
2. In a parallel processor or vector processor, the "scalar processor" handles all the sequential operations - those which cannot be parallelised or vectorised.
See also superscalar.
3. Any data type that stores a single value (e.g. a number or Boolean), as opposed to an aggregate data type that has many elements. A string is regarded as a scalar in some languages (e.g. Perl) and a vector of characters in others (e.g. C).
(2002-06-12)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Scalar

Sca"lar\, n. (Math.) In the quaternion analysis, a quantity that has magnitude, but not direction; -- distinguished from a vector, which has both magnitude and direction.

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