approximation

English

Etymology

approximate + -ion

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -eɪʃən
  • (UK) IPA(key): /əˌpɹɒk.sɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/, [əˌpɹɒk.sɪˈmeɪ.ʃn̩]
    • (file)
  • (US, Canada) IPA(key): /əˌpɹɑk.sɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/, [əˌpɹɑk.sɪˈmeɪ.ʃn̩]
    • (file)
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /əˌpɹɔk.sɪˈmæɪ.ʃən/, [əˌpɹɔk.sɪˈmæɪ.ʃn̩]

Noun

approximation (countable and uncountable, plural approximations)

  1. (uncountable, countable) The act, process or result of approximating, as:
    • 2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body, Faber & Faber (2020), page 5:
      At the back of the cupboard, you find your interview skirt, the one you bought when you had cash to purchase an approximation of the fashion spreads you mulled over in magazines.
    1. (mathematics) An imprecise solution or result that is adequate for a defined purpose.
    2. (medicine) The act of bringing together the edges of tissue to be sutured.
      Synonym: coaptation
    3. (linguistics) The act of producing a near-simulation of the pronunciation of a foreign language for a loanword therefrom, or any given pronunciation resulting from that act.
      Hyponym: (misplaced attempt at approximation) hyperforeignism
      For some loanwords borrowed from French into English, the standard English pronunciation is an approximation of the French, as with denoument.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Further reading

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin approximātiōnem.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /a.pʁɔk.si.ma.sjɔ̃/
  • (file)

Noun

approximation f (plural approximations)

  1. approximation; an imprecise solution

Further reading

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