What is "quadratic"

Quadratic \Quad*rat"ic\, a. [Cf. F. quadratique.]

1. Of or pertaining to a square, or to squares; resembling a quadrate, or square; square.

2. (Crystallog.) Tetragonal.

3. (Alg.) Pertaining to terms of the second degree; as, a quadratic equation, in which the highest power of the unknown quantity is a square.

1650s, "square," with -ic + obsolete quadrate "a square; a group of four things" (late 14c.), from Latin quadratum, noun use of neuter adjective quadratus "square, squared," past participle of quadrare "to square, set in order, complete" (see quadrant). Quadratic equations (1660s) so called because they involve the square of x.

a. 1 square-shaped 2 (context mathematics English) of a polynomial, involving the second power (square) of a variable but no higher powers, as $ax^2\; +\; bx\; +\; c$. 3 (context mathematics English) of an equation, of the form $ax^2\; +\; bx\; +\; c\; =\; 0$. 4 (context mathematics English) of a function, of the form $y\; =\; ax^2\; +\; bx\; +\; c$. n. (context mathematics English) A quadratic polynomial, function or equation.

1. adj. of or relating to or resembling a square; "quadratic shapes"

2. of or relating to the second power; "quadratic equation"

1. n. an equation in which the highest power of an unknown quantity is a square [syn: quadratic equation]

2. a polynomial of the second degree [syn: quadratic polynomial]

In mathematics, the term quadratic describes something that pertains to squares, to the operation of squaring, to terms of the second degree, or equations or formulas that involve such terms. Quadratus is Latin for square.

Quadratic is a collection of four science fiction works by Olaf Stapledon and Murray Leinster. It was edited by William L. Crawford and published in 1953 by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in an edition of 300 copies. The book is an omnibus of Stapledon's Worlds of Wonder and Leinster's Murder Madness, created by combining unbound sheets from the publisher's previous editions of the two volumes.