common fraction
- noun
- /ˈkɒmən ˈfrækʃən/
- Specialized
:
fracción común
- A common fraction is used to represent quantities, such as one-third of a pie.
Examples
-
At Grade 4, topics included (a) decimal equivalent for common fractions, (b) multiplication of multidigit numbers, and (c) estimating and measuring area.
Academic text (2012) -
In case study after case study, students who could not add common fractions could easily do so when provided with fraction blocks and instructions to write out what they were doing.
Academic text (1994) -
In math class, we learned how to add two numbers to form a common fraction, like 1/2 and 1/4.
-
When calculating the recipe, I had to convert the measurements into a common fraction for accuracy.
Synonyms
20
2.6
A number that shows a part of a whole written as one number over another
1
3.4
A number that shows a part of a whole with whole numbers on top and bottom, like 3/4
A short form of the word fraction written like a/b
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'common' (understood as ordinary/regular) with 'fraction', so a learner can get the general idea of an ordinary or standard fraction, but the precise mathematical criterion (both numerator and denominator are integers) is a technical specification not directly deducible from the everyday sense of 'common'. Because the modifier's mathematical nuance and possible sense ambiguity require domain knowledge or prior exposure, the expression is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Common fraction comes from the idea of the ordinary, or 'common', way to write parts of a whole: a top number above a line and a bottom number below it. That's why common fraction means a fraction written with whole numbers one above the other, not as a 'decimal'.