summation definition | Dictionary.com

sum⋅ma⋅tion

[suh-mey-shuh

–noun

1.	the act or process of summing.

2.	the result of this; an aggregate or total.

3.	a review or recapitulation of previously stated facts or statements, often with a final conclusion or conclusions drawn from them.

4.	Law. the final arguments of opposing attorneys before a case goes to the jury.

5.	Physiology. the arousal of impulses by a rapid succession of stimuli, carried either by separate sensory neurons (spatial summation) or by the same sensory neuron (temporal summation).

Origin:
1750–60; < ML summātiōn- (s. of summātiō), equiv. to summāt(us) (ptp. of summāre to sum; see -ate ¹ ) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms:

sum⋅ma⋅tion⋅al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To summation

sum·ma·tion (sə-mā'shən)

The act or process of adding; addition.
A sum or aggregate.
A concluding part of a speech or argument containing a summary of principal points, especially of a case before a court of law.
Physiology The process by which multiple or repeated stimuli can produce a response in a nerve, muscle, or other part that one stimulus alone cannot produce.

[New Latin summātiō, summātiōn-, from Late Latin summātus, past participle of summāre, to sum up, from Latin summa, sum; see sum.]

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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Summation

Sum*ma"tion\, n. [Cf. F. sommation. See Sum, v. t.] The act of summing, or forming a sum, or total amount; also, an aggregate.

Of this series no summation is possible to a finite intellect. --De Quincey.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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summation

1760, from Mod.L. summationem (nom. summatio) "an adding up," from L.L. summatus, pp. of summare "to sum up," from L. summa (see sum).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: sum·ma·tion
Pronunciation: s&-'mA-sh&n
Function: noun
: CLOSING ARGUMENT

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Main Entry: sum·ma·tion
Pronunciation: (")s&-'mA-sh&n
Function: noun
: cumulative action or effect; especially : theprocess by which a sequence of stimuli that are individually inadequate to produce a response are cumulatively able to induce a nerve impulse —see SPATIAL SUMMATION, TEMPORAL SUMMATION

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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summation sum·ma·tion (sə-mā'shən)
n.
The process by which multiple or repeated stimuli can produce a response in a nerve, muscle, or other part that one stimulus alone cannot produce.

summation

in physiology, the additive effect of several electrical impulses on a neuromuscular junction, the junction between a nerve cell and a muscle cell. Individually the stimuli cannot evoke a response, but collectively they can generate a response. Successive stimuli on one nerve are called temporal summation; the addition of simultaneous stimuli from several conducting fibres is called spatial summation.

Learn more about summation with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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