QUATERNIONS

Noun

quaternions

plural of quaternion

Source: Wiktionary


QUATERNION

Qua*ter"ni*on, n. Etym: [L. quaternio, fr.quaterni four each. See Quaternary.]

1. The number four. [Poetic]

2. A set of four parts, things, or person; four things taken collectively; a group of four words, phrases, circumstances, facts, or the like. Delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers. Acts xii. 4. Ye elements, the eldest birth Of Nature's womb, that in quaternion run. Milton. The triads and quaternions with which he loaded his sentences. Sir W. Scott.

3. A word of four syllables; a quadrisyllable.

4. (Math.)

Definition: The quotient of two vectors, or of two directed right lines in space, considered as depending on four geometrical elements, and as expressible by an algebraic symbol of quadrinomial form.

Note: The science or calculus of quaternions is a new mathematical method, in which the conception of a quaternion is unfolded and symbolically expressed, and is applied to various classes of algebraical, geometrical, and physical questions, so as to discover theorems, and to arrive at the solution of problems. Sir W. R. Hamilton.

Qua*ter"ni*on, v. t.

Definition: To divide into quaternions, files, or companies. Milton.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

13 April 2025

TIME

(noun) an instance or single occasion for some event; “this time he succeeded”; “he called four times”; “he could do ten at a clip”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

The first coffee-house in Mecca dates back to the 1510s. The beverage was in Turkey by the 1530s. It appeared in Europe circa 1515-1519 and was introduced to England by 1650. By 1675 the country had more than 3,000 coffee houses, and coffee had replaced beer as a breakfast drink.

coffee icon