approximation
nounUK /əˌpɹɒk.sɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/ · US /əˌpɹɑk.sɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/
Etymology From approximate + -ion.
1
The act, process or result of approximating, as
- 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.2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body, Faber & Faber (2020), page 5:
› The act, process or result of approximating, as:
2
Mathematics, Sciences An imprecise solution or result that is adequate for a defined purpose.
3
Medicine, Sciences The act of bringing together the edges of tissue to be sutured.
4
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences 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.
- For some loanwords borrowed from French into English, the standard English pronunciation is an approximation of the French, as with denoument.
- Derived terms
- approximation algorithm, approximation error, approximation problem, approximation property, approximation theory, misapproximation, overapproximation, over-approximation, pseudoapproximation, reapproximation, to a first approximation, underapproximation
- Related terms
- interpolation
- Hyponyms
- Born–Oppenheimer approximation, stationary phase approximation, Stirling's approximation, Wien approximation