What does "principal root" mean?

A complex number which, when raised to the power of n, yields the radicand of its nth degree radical, and which has the greatest real part among all such numbers, and positive imaginary part in case of equality of the real parts.

What is a synonym for "principal root"?

Common synonyms include: square root.

Principal root

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A complex number which, when raised to the power of n, yields the radicand of its nth degree radical, and which has the greatest real part among all such numbers, and positive imaginary part in case of equality of the real parts.
"The square roots of 4 are 2 and −2; the principal square root of 4 is 2."

Synonyms

All synonyms

square root

Example

More examples

"The square roots of 4 are 2 and −2; the principal square root of 4 is 2."

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