scalar

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin scālāris, adjectival form from scāla (“a flight of steps, stairs, staircase, ladder, scale”), for *scadla, from scandere (“to climb”); compare scale. The mathematics sense was coined by Irish mathematician and astronomer William Rowan Hamilton in 1846.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪlə(ɹ)

Adjective

scalar (not comparable)

1. (mathematics) Having magnitude but not direction.
2. (computer science) Consisting of a single value (e.g. integer or string) rather than multiple values (e.g. array).
3. Of, or relating to scale.
   • 2003, Rodney O. Fox, Computational Models for Turbulent Reacting Flows:

     However, it can be expected that 'scale-similarity' models of this form will be inadequate for describing non-equilibrium scalar fields resulting, for example, from non-equilibrium inlet flow conditions.

   • 2015, Raymond L Bryant, The International Handbook of Political Ecology, page 504:

     Scalar thickening is useful for understanding the propensity of scales to coalesce in certain times and places, or even how a particular scale provides conditions for other forms of scalar production.

4. (music) Of or pertaining to a musical scale.
5. (physics) Relating to particles with a spin (quantum angular momentum) of 0 (known as spin 0).
6. (linguistics) Pertaining to the dimension on which something is measured.
   • 2014, Salvatore Pistoia Reda, Pragmatics, Semantics and the Case of Scalar Implicatures:

     Spector (2006, 2007) suggests to derive this inference as a scalar implicature.

   • 2018, Osamu Sawada, Pragmatic Aspects of Scalar Modifiers, page 26:

     Also, the scalar meaning in both sentences is not sensitive to context, because the truth value of the sentences does not change depending on context.

   • 2019, Penka Stateva, Anne Reboul, Scalar Implicatures, page 8:

     In Mandarin Chinese, the same sentence containing a numeral-classifier phrase as a negative polarity item can be employed for two types of scalar inferences based on either the numeral or the noun.

Noun

scalar (plural scalars)

1. (mathematics) A quantity that has magnitude but not direction; compare vector.
2. (electronics) An amplifier whose output is a constant multiple of its input.

Anagrams

• Claars, Rascal, craals, lascar, rascal, sacral, sarlac

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈskaː.lɑr/
• Hyphenation: sca‧lar

Noun

scalar m (plural scalars or scalaren)

1. scalar (quantity with only magnitude)

Etymology

Borrowed from French scalaire, German Scalar, Latin scalaris.

Adjective

scalar m or n (feminine singular scalară, masculine plural scalari, feminine and neuter plural scalare)

1. scalar

Noun

scalar n (plural scalare)

1. scalar

References

• scalar in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)