reciprocal

1. 1.

   something (a term or expression or concept) that has an inverse relation to something else

   “risk is the reciprocal of safety”

   Broaderreciprocality
2. 2.

   (mathematics) one of a pair of numbers whose product is 1: the reciprocal of 2/3 is 3/2; the multiplicative inverse of 7 is 1/7

   Synonymsmultiplicative inverse

   Broaderinverse

   mathematics

3. 3.

   hybridization involving a pair of crosses that reverse the sexes associated with each genotype

   Synonymsreciprocal cross

   Broaderhybridization

1. 1.

   concerning each of two or more persons or things; especially given or done in return

   “reciprocal aid”

   “reciprocal trade”

   “mutual respect”

   “reciprocal privileges at other clubs”

   Synonymsmutual

   Antonymsnonreciprocal

   Similarbilateraltrilateralcorrelativeinteractionalreciprocative
2. 2.

   of or relating to the multiplicative inverse of a quantity or function

   “the reciprocal ratio of a:b is b:a”

   Similarinverse

Other forms of reciprocal

plural

reciprocals·

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 reciprocal

What does reciprocal mean?

reciprocal means "something (a term or expression or concept) that has an inverse relation to something else". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in reciprocal?

reciprocal has 4 syllables: re-cip-ro-cal. The stress falls on "cip". In IPA it is /ɹɪˈsɪpɹəkəl/.

What is another word for reciprocal?

Close synonyms include multiplicative inverse, reciprocal cross, mutual. 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.

What is the opposite of reciprocal?

The recorded antonyms are nonreciprocal.

Is reciprocal a common word?

reciprocal 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.