mantissa

1. 1.

   the positive fractional part of the representation of a logarithm; in the expression log 643 = 2.808 the mantissa is .808

   Synonymsfixed-point part

   Broaderfraction

Other forms of mantissa

plural

mantissas·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about mantissa

What does mantissa mean?

mantissa means "the positive fractional part of the representation of a logarithm; in the expression log 643 = 2.808 the mantissa is .808".

How many syllables are in mantissa?

mantissa has 3 syllables: man-tis-sa. The stress falls on "man".

What is another word for mantissa?

Close synonyms include fixed-point part. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is mantissa a common word?

mantissa is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.