MAGNITUDE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Magnitude

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/mˈægnətˌud/ Listen

noun

Magnitude n.

1.

Extent of dimensions; size; applied to things that have length, breadth, and thickness. "Conceive those particles of bodies to be so disposed amongst themselves, that the intervals of empty spaces between them may be equal in magnitude to them all."

2.

(Geom.) That which has one or more of the three dimensions, length, breadth, and thickness.

3.

Anything of which greater or less can be predicated, as time, weight, force, and the like.

4.

Greatness; grandeur. "With plain, heroic magnitude of mind."

5.

Greatness, in reference to influence or effect; importance; as, an affair of magnitude. "The magnitude of his designs."

6.

(Astron.) See magnitude of a star, below.

Apparent magnitude

1.

(Opt.), the angular breadth of an object viewed as measured by the angle which it subtends at the eye of the observer; called also apparent diameter.

2.

(Astron.) Same as magnitude of a star, below.

Magnitude of a star (Astron.), the rank of a star with respect to brightness. About twenty very bright stars are said to be of first magnitude, the stars of the sixth magnitude being just visible to the naked eye; called also visual magnitude, apparent magnitude, and simply magnitude. Stars observable only in the telescope are classified down to below the twelfth magnitude. The difference in actual brightness between magnitudes is now specified as a factor of 2.512, i.e. the difference in brightness is 100 for stars differing by five magnitudes.

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Etymology of 'Magnitude'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Magnitude" Quotes from Famous Books

... to his astonishment, one day received the following note from Lord Chatham: "Sir: You are too great a magnitude not to be in a responsible place; I intend to propose you for Chancellor of the Exchequer, and must desire to have your answer by nine o'clock tonight." Mr. Townshend was dismayed as well as astonished, his dismay arising from the fact that the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

— The Eve of the Revolution - A Chronicle of the Breach with England, Volume 11 In The - Chronicles Of America Series • Carl Becker

... sir; an error of considerable magnitude, if you will pardon me! I wish my friend here to bear witness that I am qualified to offer you excellent advice based on exact information as to your intimate domestic affairs. You're a meddlesome person, Mr. Congdon, with a slight ...

— Blacksheep! Blacksheep! • Meredith Nicholson

... head and clasped his hands behind it. Of what use rehearsing platitudes? The laws of morality were concocted to ensure the coherence and homogeneity of society; therefore, whatever deleteriously affected society was crime of less or greater magnitude. He and Sioned Penrhyn had ruined the lives and happiness of two people, had made a murderer of the one, and irrevocably hardened the nature of the other: Catherine Dartmouth had lived to fourscore, and had died with unexpiated wrong on her conscience. They had left two children ...

— What Dreams May Come • Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

... Philadelphia, against two powerful armies so much superior to him in arms, in numbers, and in discipline, it was necessary to make such an arrangement of his troops as would enable the parts reciprocally to aid each other without neglecting objects of great and almost equal magnitude, which were alike threatened, and were far asunder. To effect these purposes, the troops of New England and New York were divided between Ticonderoga and Peekskill, while those from Jersey to North Carolina inclusive, were directed to assemble at the camp to ...

— Life And Times Of Washington, Volume 2 • John Frederick Schroeder and Benson John Lossing

... of the wife's property in marriage, we shall be forced to believe that Blackstone was an optimist of unusual magnitude when he wrote that the female sex was "so great a favourite of the laws of England." Not to weary the reader by minute details, I cannot do better than give Messrs. Pollock and Maitland's excellent summary of the final shape taken by the common law—a glaring piece of injustice, ...

— A Short History of Women's Rights • Eugene A. Hecker

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