Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Relation in degree or number between two similar things.
- n. The relative value of silver and gold in a currency system that is bimetallic.
- n. Mathematics A relationship between two quantities, normally expressed as the quotient of one divided by the other: The ratio of 7 to 4 is written 7:4 or 7/4.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The relation between two similar magnitudes in respect to quantity; the relation between two similar quantities in respect to how many times one makes so many times the other. There is no intelligible difference between a ratio and a quotient of similar quantities: they are simply two modes of expression connected with different associations. But it was contrary to the old usage to speak of a ratio as a quantity—a usage leading to intolerable complications. Thus, instead of saying that the momentum of a moving particle is the product of its mass into its velocity—a mode of expression both convenient and philosophical—the older writers say that the momenta of two particles are in the compound ratio of their masses and velocities. This language, which betrays several errors of logic, is now disused; although some writers still persist in making numbers the only subjects of addition and multiplication. By mathematicians ratio is now conceived and spoken of as synonymous with quotient.
- n. Proportion of relations or conditions; coincident agreement or variation; correspondence in rate; equivalence of relative movement or change.
- n. Reason; cause: often used as a Latin word in current Latin phrases.
- n. In musical acoustics, the relation between the vibration-numbers of two tones. It is the physical or mathematical representation of the interval between them.
- n. In civil law. an account; a cause, or the giving of judgment therein.
- n. Loosely, a direct and simple ratio: as, the weights of bodies are in the direct ratio of their masses—that is, the weight of one is to that of another as the mass of the former is to that of the latter. Also direct proportion
- n. See progression.
- n. A ratio not compound.
Wiktionary
- n. A number representing a comparison between two things.
- n. arithmetic The relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient).
- n. law Short for ratio decidendi.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Math.) The relation which one quantity or magnitude has to another of the same kind. It is expressed by the quotient of the division of the first by the second; thus, the ratio of 3 to 6 is expressed by 3/6 or 1/2; of a to b by a/b; or (less commonly) the second term is made the dividend; as, a:b = b/a.
- n. Hence, fixed relation of number, quantity, or degree; rate; proportion.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the relation between things (or parts of things) with respect to their comparative quantity, magnitude, or degree
- n. the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient)
Etymologies
- From Latin ratio. (Wiktionary)
- Latin ratiō, calculation, from ratus, past participle of rērī, to reckon, consider; see ar- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“These laws are often stated thus: the ratio of the octave to the fundamental is as two is to one; that of the major third as five is to four; that of the perfect fifth as three is to two, and so on through the entire series of pitches embraced within the octave, the _ratio_ being of course the same for all octaves.”
“When a ratio is duplicate of another ratio» the point/defcribes the difference of the terms in a double time*”
“Avoid confusion with actual numbers by using the word ratio or a phrase such as a 2-to-1 majority, rather than a 2-to-1 vote in the Senate or the like.”
Simon & Schuster: Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage
“This ratio is also higher than 98% of all those taken during the past 12 months.”
“It issued new talking points approved by the legal departement, telling spokespeople to say that calcium and magnesium are not important in a sports drink — only tiny amounts of these minerals are lost through sweat, and the tinier amounts in ION4 (remember that the ratio is the same, not the content) provide no material benefit.”
“If you take out the illegals that should be getting health care in the first place and then the people making more than 75k a year that can afford it themselves the ratio is about the same.”
“If the ratio is at 85% to 90% then a Public Option or early medicare buy-in is not necessary.”
“Mr. RAMSEY: The ratio you look at when you're trying to get anyone out of debt, whether it's a company, a country or an individual, is what we call the ratio of shovel to hole.”
“At Harvard and Stanford, the ratio is about 2: almost twice as many courses are social as mathematical.”
“Whether this ratio is appropriate obviously depends on just how many women authors there are versus men, a number nobody seems to have a good handle on.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ratio’.
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EN - academic vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3119 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Rats
rats, rat, tree-rat, pilori-rat, prorate, pro rata, Ratso Rizzo, ratfink, rat pack, Rat Pack, Rats!, rat race and 157 more...
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SCIE - statistics
a priori probability, Abbe-Helmert crit..., absolute error, absolutely unbias..., accuracy, ACF, affinity, AIC, algorithm, allometry, alphabet, anomic and 4171 more...
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EU Buzz - single words (1+2+3)
1. Strictly EU terms with special European meaning used only in the EU
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2. Keywords central to the understanding of the EU (people working for the EU are usually able to give thematic...acceleration, action, additionality, administrator, agenda, agricultural, agri-environmental, agriflation, agri-food, applicant, approach, assent and 1325 more...
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numerix
calculus, polyhedron, volume, geometry, acute, pentagon, i, pi, imaginary, catastrophe, integrate, function and 18 more...
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POL - mathematics
Mathematical metaphors in political discourse
integrate, table, modular, member, modal, additive, product, unit, standard, element, metric, sector and 54 more...
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Visual Design
Words used in the visual design field
aethetics, composition, harmony, entropy, dissonance, concrete, line, invention, linear, mass, motion, order and 24 more...
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Ideas for names for Logos
Logos wishes to re-name himself. Please suggest suitable names even though you do not know him.
rhema, orotone, humboldt, he, logof, snickersnee, countersign, logomacheator, logographer, flogo, the wordie former..., catalogos and 25 more...
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harmony of the spheres
tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, subtonic, leading tone, progression, sonata, concerto, allegro and 247 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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ESL Academic Word List
This is a list of academic words for students learning English as a Second or Foreign Language. It includes 570 word families that often appear in academic texts. It does not include words that are...
collapse, depression, colleagues, invoked, levy, nonetheless, likewise, so-called, ongoing, conceived, forthcoming, integrity and 558 more...
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chibiryuu's Words
sugary, amalgam, zaftig, incommensurability, isomorphism, fold, awesome, cute, hack, dichotomy, pyrrhic, bifurcate and 89 more...
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artoparts's Words
illation, finite, edify, abide, abrade, vouch, amiss, vociferate, perusing, techantiquery, rigamarole, holon and 615 more...
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savage215's Words
pipe, yankee, knickerbocker, tennis, plasma, magma, volcano, car, truck, television, tv, word and 445 more...
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Mathaphors √
Concepts o' dem numblurs; polysemy mathematicalia.
integer, factor, ∮, geometric, exponential, equation, aboutequals, variable, obtuse, triangle, angle, circle and 92 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for ratio.
frindley @Logos-wanting-to-change-name: since also associated with the concept of "reason" Aug 23, 2008