magnitude Hear it!

magnitude Definition

mag·ni·tude (mag′nə to̵̅o̅d′, -tyo̵̅o̅d′)

noun

  1. greatness; specif.,
    1. of size
    2. of extent
    3. of importance or influence
    4. Obsolete of character
    1. size or measurable quantity the magnitude of a velocity
    2. loudness (of sound)
    3. importance or influence
  3. Astron. a number representing the apparent brightness of a celestial body: it is part of an unlimited arbitrary scale that ranges from the brightest object, the sun, at -26.72 to the faintest visible object at c. 26: only 22 stars are brighter than 1.5 (first magnitude), while stars c. 6 (sixth magnitude) are barely visible to the naked eye: each increase of one magnitude equals 2.512 times as much brightness (a magnitude increase of 5 is 100 times brighter)
  4. Geol. a measure of the amount of energy released by an earthquake
  5. Math. a number given to a quantity for purposes of comparison with other quantities of the same class

Etymology: L magnitudo < magnus, great: see magni-

magnitude Idioms

of the first magnitude

of the greatest importance

magnitude Synonyms

magnitude

n.

  1. Size

    extent, breadth, dimension; see measure 1, measurement 2, quantity, size 2.

  2. Importance

    greatness, consequence, significance; see degree 2, importance 1.

magnitude Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • earthquake: There is a great increase in the number and magnitude of earthquakes, many centered in the localities of the wars and fighting.
  • coefficient: On a lossless line, the magnitude of the reflection coefficient is the same everywhere along the line.
  • vector: The magnitude of the vector is proportional to the strength of the rotation.
  • velocity: The following images show the air velocity vectors over the site with vector color and size indicating the magnitude of the local velocity.
  • counterpart: Bmag The blue ( O ) magnitude of the optical counterpart as measured from the Palomar or UK Schmidt Surveys.

Converse of object

  • compute: In the newly released Bulletin data, the ISC has computed 3567 surface wave magnitudes.
  • grasp: Perhaps this way we can grasp the magnitude of ' cultural deprivation ' .

Adjective modifier

  • apparent: The apparent magnitude is a measure of the star's flux received by us.
  • absolute: The distance modulus = the apparent magnitude - absolute magnitude.
  • sheer: You cannot visit the Eden Project without being amazed at the sheer magnitude of it all.
  • perceptible: Hence, ' things by removal ' may be one way of explaining perceptible magnitudes qua lengths.
  • lesser: This is one of those stories about a crime of a lesser magnitude than many of those that Harry has investigated before.
  • spectral: When the Normalize option is checked, the spectral magnitudes are adjusted so that power is conserved.

Modifies a noun

  • quake: Contrast that to less technologically complex parts of Turkey, Iran, China, or Central or South America hit by similar magnitude quakes.
  • modulation: Two main problems are addressed: Combined component design of magnitude modulation.
  • estimation: Magnitude estimation data are offline data that only represent a rough approximation of processing difficulty.

Noun used with modifier

  • V: Vmag The V magnitude in the AB system measured in a 3 arcsecond diameter aperture.
  • vibration: Our services include: Measurement of hand arm vibration magnitudes.
  • tsunami: Care should also be taken with the quantification of tsunami magnitude in whatever catalog or theoretical model is used as a basis for analysis.
  • earthquake: Why do we need more than one earthquake magnitude scale?