QUATERNION • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Quaternion

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noun

Quaternion n.

The number four. (Poetic)

A set of four parts, things, or person; four things taken collectively; a group of four words, phrases, circumstances, facts, or the like. "Delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers." "Ye elements, the eldest birth Of Nature's womb, that in quaternion run." "The triads and quaternions with which he loaded his sentences."

A word of four syllables; a quadrisyllable.

(Math.) The quotient of two vectors, or of two directed right lines in space, considered as depending on four geometrical elements, and as expressible by an algebraic symbol of quadrinomial form. Note: The science or calculus of quaternions is a new mathematical method, in which the conception of a quaternion is unfolded and symbolically expressed, and is applied to various classes of algebraical, geometrical, and physical questions, so as to discover theorems, and to arrive at the solution of problems.

verb

Quaternion v. t. To divide into quaternions, files, or companies.

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Etymology of 'Quaternion'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Quaternion" Quotes from Famous Books

... made an imposing collection when I had got them all together; fifty mathematical works by eminent Den, from a well-thumbed, dog's-eared Euclid to a clean uncut copy of Functions of a Quaternion. It is doubtful if you even know what a quaternion is, still less how it functions; probably you think of it as a small four-legged animal with a hard shell. You may be right—it is so long since I bought the book. But once I knew all about quaternions; kept them, possibly, at the bottom of the ...

— If I May • A. A. Milne

... See Pythagoras in Notes.], that interlaced triple triangle which served them as a sort of password, they called by the name Health. They argued that Health included Joy and Prosperity, but that neither of those two was coextensive with Health. Some of them gave to the Quaternion, [Footnote: See Pythagoras in Notes.] which is their most solemn oath, and sums their perfect number, the name of Beginning of Health. Philolaus ...

— Works, V2 • Lucian of Samosata

... orb that flies; And ye five other wandering Fires, that move In mystick dance not without song, resound His praise, who out of darkness called up light. Air, and ye Elements, the eldest birth Of Nature's womb, that in quaternion run Perpetual circle, multiform; and mix And nourish all things; let your ceaseless change Vary to our great Maker still new praise. Ye Mists and Exhalations, that now rise From hill or steaming lake, dusky or gray, Till the sun paint your fleecy skirts with gold, In honour to ...

— Paradise Lost • John Milton

... readers may be interested in Sir William Rowan Hamilton's account of his famous discovery of the quaternion analysis, one of the greatest of ...

— A Study of Poetry • Bliss Perry

... triple triangle which served them as a sort of password, they called by the name Health. They argued that Health included Joy and Prosperity, but that neither of those two was coextensive with Health. Some of them gave to the Quaternion, [Footnote: See Pythagoras in Notes.] which is their most solemn oath, and sums their perfect number, the name of Beginning of Health. Philolaus might ...

— Works, V2 • Lucian of Samosata