degree of a term
- noun
- Specialized
:
grado de un término
- In the expression 3x²y, the degree of a term is three, because x is squared and y is to the first power.
Examples
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For the term -5abc², the degree of a term is four, since a and b have exponent one and c has exponent two.
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You determine the degree of a term by adding up all the exponents on its variables.
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What is the degree of a term?
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The degree of a term is important.
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For the term -5abc², the degree of a term is four, since a and b have exponent one and c has exponent two.
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In the expression 3x²y, the degree of a term is three, because x is squared and y is to the first power.
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You determine the degree of a term by adding up all the exponents on its variables.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'degree' (a numerical/property measure) + 'of' + 'term' (a mathematical summand), so the meaning 'the degree belonging to a term' is directly derivable from the constituents. Although the precise technical sense (sum of exponents) is mathematical, the genitive/property-of construction is regular and cross-linguistically common, making the MWE transparent to learners who know the mathematical senses of the words.
Etymology
Degree of a term is like counting the small powers on each variable; imagine each variable wears a number called its exponent, and when you add those numbers you get the degree, so it shows the term's total 'power'.
