approximant

English

Etymology

From Latin approximāns. In the phonetics sense first used by Peter Ladefoged[1], the mathematical concept is attributed to Paul Halmos.[2]

Pronunciation
  • (US) IPA(key): /əˈpɹɑksɪmənt/
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ʌpɹɔkˈsɪmənt/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

approximant (plural approximants)

  1. (phonetics) A consonant sound made by slightly narrowing the vocal tract, while still allowing a smooth flow of air. Liquids and glides are approximants.
    Coordinate terms: fricative, lateral, nasal, trill, plosive
    Hyponyms: liquid, glide, semivowel
  2. (mathematics) An approximation to the solution of a function, series, etc.
    Coordinate terms: approximand, approximate, approximation

Translations
mathematics: approximation — see approximation

See also

Further reading

References
  1. Peter Ladefoged (1964) A Phonetic Study of West African Languages (in English), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, page 25: “The term approximant is used here to describe a sound which belongs to the phonetic class vocoid or central resonant oral (Pike, 1943), and simultaneously to the phonological class consonant in that it occurs in the same phonotactic patterns as stops, fricatives and nasals.”
  2. Philip J. Maher (2017) Operator Approximant Problems Arising from Quantum Theory (in English), →ISBN, page 1: “The key concept of this book is that of an approximant (the characteristically snappy term is due to Halmos [21])”

French

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Verb

approximant

  1. present participle of approximer

Latin

Verb

approximant

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of approximō
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