SURD • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Surd

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noun

Surd n. (Math.)

A quantity which can not be expressed by rational numbers; thus, sqrt(2) is a surd.

(Phon.) A surd element of speech. See Surd, a., 4.

adjective

Surd adj.

Net having the sense of hearing; deaf. (Obs.) "A surd... generation."

Unheard. (Obs.)

(Math.) Involving surds; not capable of being expressed in rational numbers; radical; irrational; as, a surd expression or quantity; a surd number.

(Phonetics) Uttered, as an element of speech, without tone, or proper vocal sound; voiceless; unintonated; nonvocal; atonic; whispered; aspirated; sharp; hard, as f, p, s, etc.; opposed to sonant.

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Etymology of 'Surd'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Surd" Quotes from Famous Books

... will avoid equations, And shun the naughty surd, I must beware the perfect square, Through it young girls have erred: And when men mention Rule of Three Pretend I have ...

— Are Women People? • Alice Duer Miller

... upon that problem Which has never yet been solved, How to live and be contented In the scenes life has evolved, Though in every operation Much must be inferred, We will find this root's extraction Will often prove a surd. ...

— Our Profession and Other Poems • Jared Barhite

... for it is not for nothing that the apostle calleth religion "our reasonable service of God;" insomuch as the very ceremonies and figures of the old law were full of reason and signification, much more than the ceremonies of idolatry and magic, that are full of non-significants and surd characters. But most specially the Christian faith, as in all things so in this, deserveth to be highly magnified; holding and preserving the golden mediocrity in this point between the law of the heathen and the law of Mahomet, which ...

— The Advancement of Learning • Francis Bacon