exponent, a. and n.
(ɛkˈspəʊnənt)
[ad. L. expōnent-em, pr. pple. of expōnĕre: see expone v.]
A. adj. That sets forth or interprets. In Logic, of a proposition.
| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 111 The..same rule..framyng a sounde and probable Argument from the proposition Exponent, to the Exclusive. 1847 Sir W. Hamilton Let. De Morgan 6 The doctrine of which the requirements were exponent. |
B. n. One who or that which sets forth.
1. One who sets forth in words, expounds, or interprets; in recent use occas. one who ‘interprets’ music, an executant. Also, that which serves to explain or interpret.
| 1812 Coleridge in Southey's Omniana II. 12 Whatever is common to all languages..must be the Exponent and Consequent of the common consciousness of man. 1834 H. N. Coleridge Grk. Poets (ed. 2) 28 One of those tongues may be an imperfect exponent of the other. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iv. xxxi. 322 Jesus Christ is the clearest exponent of His own purposes. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) II. vi. 13 This form of discontent found its exponent in John Wycliffe. 1875 Ouseley Mus. Form ii. 27 Vocal music is very dependant on the words to which it is set, and of which it should be the exponent. |
2. Math. a. Algebra. A symbol denoting the number of times a particular quantity is to be taken as a factor to produce the power indicated; an index. It is now written as a small letter or figure at the right hand of and above the symbol of the quantity affected by it. † b. exponent of the ratio (see quot. 1706). c. Physics. exponent of refraction: = ‘index’ or ‘coefficient’ of refraction (? obs.).
| 1706 Philips (ed. Kersey), Exponent of the Ratio or Proportion between two Numbers or Quantities, is the Quotient arising, when the Antecedent is divided by the Consequent. Thus 6 is the Exponent of the Ratio that 30 has to 5. 1734 Berkeley Analyst §45 We may often observe that the Exponents of Fluxions..are confounded with the Fluxions themselves. 1807 Hutton Course Math. II. 283 Whether the exponent be positive or negative, integral or fractional. 1859 Barn. Smith Arith. & Algebra (ed. 6) 198 The figures 2, 3..m..are called Exponents. |
3. He who or that which sets forth as a representative or type, as a symbol or index.
| 1825 Coleridge Aids Refl. (1848) I. 260 To one or other of these four heads all the numerous forms and exponents of Christ's mediation in St. Paul's writings may be referred. 1833 H. Martineau Fr. Wines & Pol. ix. 145 Price is the exponent of exchangeable value. 1842 W. Grove Corr. Phys. Forces 25 The motion of the mass becomes the exponent of the amount of heat of the molecules. 1880 L. Stephen Pope v. 135 Theobald..as a plodding antiquarian, was an excellent exponent of dullness. |
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Add: [B.] 4. Linguistics. An instance or realization in speech or writing of a linguistic category or feature.
| 1957 J. R. Firth in Studies in Linguistic Analysis (Philol. Soc.) 13 Some of the actual word forms or exponents of the colligation operator-negative cannot be suitably divided with reference to the affirmative forms. 1960 Jrnl. Canad. Linguistic Assoc. VI. ii. 133 Firth introduced the theory of exponents to link the phonic data with categories of phonology and grammar. 1964 M. A. K. Halliday et al. Linguistic Sci. 24 The items which are instances (or, to use the technical term, exponents) of these classes are thus grammatical but not fully grammatical items. 1979 Trans. Philol. Soc. 231 In the presence of the potential marker -z(ə)- (and what is true of this exponent is equally true of the affix conveying unwillingness on the part of the S, namely -amxa-), a transitive verb has no S! |