Poset

//ˈpəʊsɛt// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A partially ordered set.

    "1973, Barbara L. Osofsky, Homological Dimensions of Modules, American Mathematical Society, →ISBN, page 76, 42. Definition. A poset (partially ordered set) (X, ≤) (usually written just X) is a set X together with a transitive, antisymmetric relation ≤ on X. 43. Definition. A linearly ordered set or chain is a poset (X, ≤), such that ∀a, b ∈ X, either a ≤ b or b ≤ a or a = b."

Example

More examples

"1973, Barbara L. Osofsky, Homological Dimensions of Modules, American Mathematical Society, →ISBN, page 76, 42. Definition. A poset (partially ordered set) (X, ≤) (usually written just X) is a set X together with a transitive, antisymmetric relation ≤ on X. 43. Definition. A linearly ordered set or chain is a poset (X, ≤), such that ∀a, b ∈ X, either a ≤ b or b ≤ a or a = b."

Etymology

Abbreviation of partially ordered set. Coined by American mathematician Garrett Birkhoff in his Lattice Theory.

Related phrases

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