minus sign
1
2.1
- noun
- /ˈmaɪnəs saɪn/
- Specialized
:
signo menos
- Solid arrows marked with a minus sign (-) correspond to path coefficients that are negative and statistically significant at the .05 level.
- plus or minus sign
- minus sign indicates
Examples
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So you just have to pay attention to your minus signs, your stoichiometry.
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If strep A is not present in the sample, the READ RESULT window shows only the printed blue horizontal line, which represents a minus sign to indicate a negative result.
Academic text (2010) -
And I can take away the minus signs, make this plus plus.
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Both of them have minus signs, so these will go into each other.
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Put a minus sign next to those you consider not very important and a star next to those you consider very important.
Academic text (1997) -
How It Works: This demonstrates the power of the minus sign.
Blog text (4) -
How many ways can you arrange plus and minus signs between these numbers and get a result that's divisible by three?
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In choice 4, the expression will give a result with a minus sign when Customer.PostCode is greater than Dealer.Postcode.
Academic text (2001) -
Arrows marked with a plus sign (+) indicate positive relationships, while those marked with a minus sign (-) indicate negative relationships.
Academic text (2012) -
In mathematics, the minus sign (−) indicates that you should subtract one number from another.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the symbol indicating subtraction or a negative quantity' is directly derivable from combining 'minus' (the subtraction/negative concept) with 'sign' (a symbol). This straightforward noun+noun composition is compositional and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
The noun minus sign may come from old writers who drew a short line to show a number was 'taken away' or 'less'. That small mark, the -, became the simple 'sign' for subtraction and for negative numbers, which is why we use it today.