adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An expression that gives information about the roots of a polynomial; for example, the expression D = b² - 4ac determines whether the roots of the quadratic equation ax² + bx + c = 0 are real and distinct (D > 0), real and equal (D = 0) or complex (D < 0).
2. 2
   The invariant (on the vector space of forms of degree d in n variables) that vanishes exactly when the corresponding hypersurface in Pⁿ⁻¹ is singular.

Adjective

1. 1
   Serving to discriminate.

Related phrases

discriminant functionquadratic equation

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.