Mantissa

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  mantissa \man*tis*sa\, n. [L., an addition, makeweight; of
     Tuscan origin.] (Math.)
     The decimal part of a logarithm, as distinguished from the
     integral part, or {characteristic}.
     [1913 Webster]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  mantissa
       n : the positive fractional part of the representation of a
           logarithm; in the expression log 643 = 2.808 the mantissa
           is .808 [syn: {fixed-point part}]

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  mantissa
       
          1.  The part of a {floating point} number which,
          when multiplied by its {radix} raised to the power of its
          {exponent}, gives its value.  The mantissa may include the
          number's sign or this may be considered to be a separate part.
       
          2.  The fractional part of a {logarithm}.
       
          (1996-06-15)