Found 1 items, similar to Absolute equation.
English → English (gcide) Definition: Absolute equation Absolute \Ab"so*lute\, a. [L. absolutus, p. p. of absolvere: cf. F. absolu. See Absolve.] 1. Loosed from any limitation or condition; uncontrolled; unrestricted; unconditional; as, absolute authority, monarchy, sovereignty, an absolute promise or command; absolute power; an absolute monarch. [1913 Webster] 2. Complete in itself; perfect; consummate; faultless; as, absolute perfection; absolute beauty. [1913 Webster] So absolute she seems, And in herself complete. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 3. Viewed apart from modifying influences or without comparison with other objects; actual; real; -- opposed to relative and comparative; as, absolute motion; absolute time or space. [1913 Webster] Note: Absolute rights and duties are such as pertain to man in a state of nature as contradistinguished from relative rights and duties, or such as pertain to him in his social relations. [1913 Webster] 4. Loosed from, or unconnected by, dependence on any other being; self-existent; self-sufficing. [1913 Webster] Note: In this sense God is called the Absolute by the Theist. The term is also applied by the Pantheist to the universe, or the total of all existence, as only capable of relations in its parts to each other and to the whole, and as dependent for its existence and its phenomena on its mutually depending forces and their laws. [1913 Webster] 5. Capable of being thought or conceived by itself alone; unconditioned; non-relative. [1913 Webster] Note: It is in dispute among philosopher whether the term, in this sense, is not applied to a mere logical fiction or abstraction, or whether the absolute, as thus defined, can be known, as a reality, by the human intellect. [1913 Webster] To Cusa we can indeed articulately trace, word and thing, the recent philosophy of the absolute. --Sir W. Hamilton. [1913 Webster] 6. Positive; clear; certain; not doubtful. [R.] [1913 Webster] I am absolute 't was very Cloten. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 7. Authoritative; peremptory. [R.] [1913 Webster] The peddler stopped, and tapped her on the head, With absolute forefinger, brown and ringed. --Mrs. Browning. [1913 Webster] 8. (Chem.) Pure; unmixed; as, absolute alcohol. [1913 Webster] 9. (Gram.) Not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence in government; as, the case absolute. See Ablative absolute, under Ablative. [1913 Webster] Absolute curvature (Geom.), that curvature of a curve of double curvature, which is measured in the osculating plane of the curve. Absolute equation (Astron.), the sum of the optic and eccentric equations. Absolute space (Physics), space considered without relation to material limits or objects. Absolute terms. (Alg.), such as are known, or which do not contain the unknown quantity. --Davies & Peck. Absolute temperature (Physics), the temperature as measured on a scale determined by certain general thermo-dynamic principles, and reckoned from the absolute zero. Absolute zero (Physics), the be ginning, or zero point, in the scale of absolute temperature. It is equivalent to -273[deg] centigrade or -459.4[deg] Fahrenheit. [1913 Webster] Syn: Positive; peremptory; certain; unconditional; unlimited; unrestricted; unqualified; arbitrary; despotic; autocratic. [1913 Webster] Equation \E*qua"tion\, n. [L. aequatio an equalizing: cf. F. ['e]quation equation. See Equate.] 1. A making equal; equal division; equality; equilibrium. [1913 Webster] Again the golden day resumed its right, And ruled in just equation with the night. --Rowe. [1913 Webster] 2. (Math.) An expression of the condition of equality between two algebraic quantities or sets of quantities, the sign = being placed between them; as, a binomial equation; a quadratic equation; an algebraic equation; a transcendental equation; an exponential equation; a logarithmic equation; a differential equation, etc. [1913 Webster] 3. (Astron.) A quantity to be applied in computing the mean place or other element of a celestial body; that is, any one of the several quantities to be added to, or taken from, its position as calculated on the hypothesis of a mean uniform motion, in order to find its true position as resulting from its actual and unequal motion. [1913 Webster] Absolute equation. See under Absolute. Equation box, or Equational box, a system of differential gearing used in spinning machines for regulating the twist of the yarn. It resembles gearing used in equation clocks for showing apparent time. Equation of the center (Astron.), the difference between the place of a planet as supposed to move uniformly in a circle, and its place as moving in an ellipse. Equations of condition (Math.), equations formed for deducing the true values of certain quantities from others on which they depend, when different sets of the latter, as given by observation, would yield different values of the quantities sought, and the number of equations that may be found is greater than the number of unknown quantities. Equation of a curve (Math.), an equation which expresses the relation between the co["o]rdinates of every point in the curve. Equation of equinoxes (Astron.), the difference between the mean and apparent places of the equinox. Equation of payments (Arith.), the process of finding the mean time of payment of several sums due at different times. Equation of time (Astron.), the difference between mean and apparent time, or between the time of day indicated by the sun, and that by a perfect clock going uniformly all the year round. Equation clock or Equation watch, a timepiece made to exhibit the differences between mean solar and apparent solar time. --Knight. Normal equation. See under Normal. Personal equation (Astron.), the difference between an observed result and the true qualities or peculiarities in the observer; particularly the difference, in an average of a large number of observation, between the instant when an observer notes a phenomenon, as the transit of a star, and the assumed instant of its actual occurrence; or, relatively, the difference between these instants as noted by two observers. It is usually only a fraction of a second; -- sometimes applied loosely to differences of judgment or method occasioned by temperamental qualities of individuals. Theory of equations (Math.), the branch of algebra that treats of the properties of a single algebraic equation of any degree containing one unknown quantity. [1913 Webster]