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Glite Dictionary
🔣 A symbol ➖ A math function 🏳️ A military standard
signum

signum

9.9
A function that gives −1 for negative, 0 for zero and 1 for positive numbers
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪɡnəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : signo
  • The signum of the number -4 is -1 because it is negative.

Examples

  • For any positive number, the signum function outputs 1 to indicate its positivity.

  • When evaluating the function, the signum returns 0 for the number 0.

  • All right, How do you do signum prime paired with Phi?

Synonyms

sign
vssignum
45 4.8

A mark that shows if a number is positive or negative

gives -1, 0, or 1 as a precise mathematical function for number positivity or negativity

Surface Forms

signum singular
signums plural
signa plural

Etymology

Signum comes from the Latin word signum, which means 'sign' or 'mark' and is the same root as the English words sign and signal. So in mathematics the signum is the 'sign' of a number, telling if it is negative, zero, or positive.