coefficient

noun co·ef·fi·cient \ ˌkō-ə-ˈfi-shənt \

|Updated on: 12 Jul 2018

Examples: coefficient in a Sentence

Definition of coefficient

1 : any of the factors of a product considered in relation to a specific factor; especially : a constant factor of a term as distinguished from a variable

2 a : a number that serves as a measure of some property or characteristic (as of a substance, device, or process)

coefficient of expansion of a metal

b : measure

See coefficient defined for English-language learners

See coefficient defined for kids

Examples of coefficient in a Sentence

5 is the coefficient of y in the term 5y.
the metal's coefficient of expansion

Recent Examples of coefficient from the Web

The roofline is a couple of tenths taller but its overall aerodynamics are slipperier with a coefficient of drag now at 0.27, which compares to 0.25 for a Prius Prime.

— mark maynard, sandiegouniontribune.com, "2019 Volkswagen Jetta: 7th generation wide-body reboot," 6 July 2018
Liverpool will also receive a share of an additional £513m based on their coefficient ranking once all the other 31 teams are confirmed for next year’s group stage.

— SI.com, "REVEALED: The Staggering Amount Liverpool Could Earn From the Champions League Next Season," 6 June 2018
Those blocks of pixels, in turn, are represented by a sequence of transform coefficients.

— timothy b. lee, Ars Technica, "Inventor says Google is patenting work he put in the public domain," 10 June 2018
Liverpool are currently ranked 11th in the coefficient making for a £21.4m share.

— SI.com, "REVEALED: The Staggering Amount Liverpool Could Earn From the Champions League Next Season," 6 June 2018
Fiscal redistribution reduces the Gini coefficient by more than 7 points in the US and European Union.

— charles kenny and justin sandefur, Vox, "A radical proposal to fight poverty in the developing world: tax the poor more than the rich," 24 May 2018
One way to see this is by applying a standard measure of inequality—the Gini coefficient—to the box office.

— justin lahart, WSJ, "Why Box Office Flops Really, Really Hurt," 11 May 2018
There was no evidence of meaningful change in the bounciness of the balls, formally called coefficient of restitution, or alteration in batters’ swings, such as upper-cutting.

— BostonGlobe.com, "French Open draw is announced," 25 May 2018
The Gini coefficient measures the level of inequality in a group: A measure of 0 implies complete equality (everyone gets the same income) and 100 is perfect inequality (one person gets all of the income).

— charles kenny and justin sandefur, Vox, "A radical proposal to fight poverty in the developing world: tax the poor more than the rich," 24 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'coefficient.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of coefficient

New Latin coefficient-, coefficiens, from Latin co- + efficient-, efficiens efficient

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1715

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

COEFFICIENT Defined for English Language Learners

coefficient

noun

Definition of coefficient for English Language Learners

mathematics : a number by which another number or symbol is multiplied
physics : a number that is used to measure some property or characteristic of a substance

Medical Dictionary

coefficient

noun co·ef·fi·cient \ ˌkō-ə-ˈfish-ənt \

medical Definition of coefficient

: a number that serves as a measure of some property (as of a substance) or characteristic (as of a device or process) and that is commonly used as a factor in computations