ratio

noun ra·tio \ ˈrā-(ˌ)shō , -shē-ˌō \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Examples: ratio in a Sentence

Definition of ratio

plural ratios

1 a : the indicated quotient of two mathematical expressions

b : the relationship in quantity, amount, or size between two or more things : proportion

2 : the expression of the relative values of gold and silver as determined by a country's currency laws

See ratio defined for English-language learners

See ratio defined for kids

Examples of ratio in a Sentence

What is the length-to-width ratio?
the ratio of students to teachers in the school is nine to one

Recent Examples of ratio from the Web

In that scenario, the S&P’s price-to-earnings ratio would stand at 18.8%.

— shawn tully, Fortune, "Tax Reform Is Lifting Profits, but Beware Wall Street's Blue Sky Forecasts," 7 June 2018
Mass spectrometer analysis shows how much of the trace uranium in the core’s layers has decayed to thorium, and the ratio between the two elements is used to calculate each layer’s approximate age.

— elizabeth svoboda, Scientific American, "Cores from Coral Reefs Hold Secrets of the Seas’ Past and Future," 6 June 2018
Under his tutelage, the Southeastern pitching staffs have ranked in the top 100 nationally in ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio in each of the last five seasons.

— christopher dabe, NOLA.com, "MLB Draft 2018: Tulane's Grant Witherspoon picked by Tampa Bay Rays in 4th round," 5 June 2018
These big boys were held back by painfully low compression ratios—the lead that was once in gasoline prevented knocking.

— blake z. rong, Popular Mechanics, "The Evolution of the Combustion Engine," 5 June 2018
By that point, the pitching staff had fallen into disarray, a point illustrated by its swollen 5.19 ERA and substandard 1.84 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

— nick moyle, San Antonio Express-News, "Texas began its Super Regional run after early-season loss to Arkansas," 4 June 2018
Personal saving rate at 3% versus 12% 50 years ago, and the debt to annual income ratio is rising at 22% versus 15% 50 years ago.

— recode staff, Recode, "Full video and transcript: Kleiner Perkins’ Mary Meeker at Code 2018," 31 May 2018
Divvying up an odd-numbered appetizer for your even-numbered party can test both patience and grasp of ratios.

— mark kurlyandchik, Detroit Free Press, "Review: Dearborn's La2 Mooshi Grill melds Lebanese and Brazilian," 31 May 2018
Vietnam rarely had set-piece battles, but rather was seen by the U.S. as a war of attrition, with success measured in body counts and kill ratios.

— joel achenbach, Washington Post, "The men killed on a single, bloody day in Vietnam, and the haunting wall that memorializes them," 25 May 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of ratio

Latin, computation, reason — more at reason

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1660

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

ratio Synonyms

Other Mathematics and Statistics Terms

abscissa, denominator, divisor, equilateral, exponent, hypotenuse, logarithm, oblique, radii, rhomb

RATIO Defined for English Language Learners

ratio

noun

Definition of ratio for English Language Learners

: the relationship that exists between the size, number, or amount of two things and that is often represented by two numbers

RATIO Defined for Kids

ratio

noun ra·tio \ ˈrā-shō , -shē-ˌō \

Definition of ratio for Students

plural ratios

: the relationship in number or quantity between two or more things

the ratio of teachers to students

Medical Dictionary

ratio

noun ra·tio \ ˈrā-(ˌ)shō, -shē-ˌō \

medical Definition of ratio

plural ratios

: the relationship in quantity, amount, or size between two or more things — see sex ratio

Learn More about ratio

See words that rhyme with ratio Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for ratio Spanish Central: Translation of ratio Nglish: Translation of ratio for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of ratio for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about ratio

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ratio

Definition of ratio

Examples of ratio in a Sentence

Recent Examples of ratio from the Web

Origin and Etymology of ratio

ratio Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Other Mathematics and Statistics Terms

RATIO Defined for English Language Learners

ratio

Definition of ratio for English Language Learners

RATIO Defined for Kids

ratio

Definition of ratio for Students

Medical Dictionary

ratio

medical Definition of ratio

Learn More about ratio

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