English Explanatory Dictionary

discriminant

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An expression that gives information about the roots of a polynomial; for example, the expression D = b² - 4ac determines whether the roots of the quadratic equation ax² + bx + c = 0 are real and distinct (D > 0), real and equal (D = 0) or complex (D < 0).
  2. The invariant (on the vector space of forms of degree d in n variables) that vanishes exactly when the corresponding hypersurface in Pⁿ⁻¹ is singular.
adj
  1. Serving to discriminate.

Pronunciation

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-discriminant.wav

Word forms

discriminant discriminants more discriminant most discriminant

Derived words

discriminantal discriminant function discriminantly multidiscriminant nondiscriminant
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