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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Approximation \Ap*prox'i*ma"tion\ n. [Cf. F. approximation, LL. approximatio.]
1. The act of approximating; a drawing, advancing or being near; approach; also, the result of approximating.
The largest capacity and the most noble dispositions are but an approximation to the proper standard and true symmetry of human nature. --I. Taylor.
2. An approach to a correct estimate, calculation, or conception, or to a given quantity, quality, etc.
3. (Math.) (a) A continual approach or coming nearer to a result; as, to solve an equation by approximation. (b) A value that is nearly but not exactly correct.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
approximation
noun
1: an approximate calculation of quantity or degree or worth; "an estimate of what it would cost"; "a rough idea how long it would take" [syn: {estimate}, {estimation}, {idea}]
2: the quality of coming near to identity (especially close in quantity)
3: an imprecise or incomplete account; "newspapers gave only an approximation of the actual events"
4: the act of bringing near or bringing together especially the cut edges of tissue [syn: {bringing close together}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
162 Moby Thesaurus words for "approximation": access, accession, accord, accordance, addition, adjunct, advance, advent, affairs, affiliation, affinity, afflux, affluxion, agreement, alikeness, alliance, allowance, analogy, aping, appraisal, appraisement, approach, approaching, appropinquation, appulse, assemblage, assessment, assimilation, assize, assizement, association, bond, calculation, closeness, combination, coming, coming near, coming toward, community, comparability, comparison, computation, confines, conformity, connectedness, connection, contiguity, contrariety, convergence, copying, correction, correspondence, dealings, deduction, determination, deviation, differentiation, disjunction, division, environs, equation, estimate, estimation, evaluation, evolution, extrapolation, filiation, flowing toward, foreground, forthcoming, gauging, homology, identity, imitation, immediacy, immediate foreground, imminence, imprecision, inaccuracy, inaccurateness, incorrectness, inexactitude, inexactness, instrumentation, integration, intercourse, interpolation, intimacy, inversion, involution, junction, laxity, liaison, likeness, likening, link, linkage, linking, looseness, measure, measurement, measuring, mensuration, metaphor, metric system, mimicking, multiplication, mutual attraction, nearing, nearness, negligence, neighborhood, nighness, notation, oncoming, parallelism, parity, practice, precinct, predictable error, probable error, propinquity, proportion, proximation, proximity, purlieus, quantification, quantization, rapport, rating, reduction, relatedness, relation, relations, relationship, resemblance, sameness, semblance, similarity, simile, similitude, simulation, standard deviation, subtraction, survey, surveying, sympathy, telemetering, telemetry, tie, tie-in, tolerance, transformation, triangulation, uncorrectness, unfactualness, union, unpreciseness, unrigorousness, valuation, vicinage, vicinity
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |