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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary mag·ni·tude ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin magnitudo, from magnus DATE 15th century 1. a. great size or extent b. (1) spatial quality : size (2) quantity , number 2. the importance, quality, or caliber of something 3. a number representing the intrinsic or apparent brightness of a celestial body on a logarithmic scale in which an increase of one unit corresponds to a reduction in the brightness of light by a factor of 2.512 4. a numerical quantitative measure expressed usually as a multiple of a standard unit 5. the intensity of an earthquake represented by a number on an arbitrary scale a magnitude six earthquake English Etymology magnitude late 14c., from L. magnitudo "greatness, bulk, size," from magnus "great" (see magnate) + -tudo, suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives and participles. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 magnitude mag·ni·tude / 5mA^nitju:d; NAmE -tu:d / noun~ (of sth) 1. [U] (formal) the great size or importance of sth; the degree to which sth is large or important 巨大；重大；重要性: We did not realize the magnitude of the problem. 我们没有意识到这个问题的重要性。 a discovery of the first magnitude 一项极重要的发现 2. [C, U] (astronomy 天) the degree to which a star is bright 星等；星的亮度: The star varies in brightness by about three magnitudes. 星体的亮度大约分三个星等。 3. [C, U] (geology 地) the size of an earthquake 震级 Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English magnitude noun ADJ. considerable, great | sufficient a fall in costs of sufficient magnitude to enable us to reduce prices PREP. in ~ The effects were substantial in magnitude. PHRASES of the first magnitude Stars of the first magnitude are visible to the naked eye. a disaster of the first magnitude | (by) an order of magnitude Her calculation was out by several orders of magnitude. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus-11th Edition n. Function: noun 1 Synonyms: ENORMITY 2, enormousness, hugeness, immensity, tremendousness, vastness 2 Synonyms: SIZE 1, admeasurement, dimension(s), dimensionality, extent, measure, proportion 3 Synonyms: SIZE 2, amplitude, bigness, greatness, largeness, sizableness 4 Synonyms: ORDER 4, extent, matter, neighborhood, range, tune, vicinity 5 Synonyms: IMPORTANCE , consequence, import, moment, momentousness, pith, significance, ||signification, weight, weightinessWebster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged mag·ni·tude \ˈmagnəˌtüd, ˈmaig-, -nə.ˌtyüd\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English, from Latin magnitudo, from magnus great + -i- + -tudo -tude — more at much 1. obsolete : greatness of character or position : nobility 2. a. (1) : greatness of size or extent : vastness < cannot wage a war of such magnitude … without inaugurating a new epoch — A.N.Whitehead > < the magnitude of his literary output — H.W.H.Knott > < the magnitude of the shift away from centralized planning of all economic activity — Harry Schwartz > (2) : size 3a(1) < negative accelerations of any considerable magnitude in aircraft are seldom encountered — H.G.Armstrong > < able to operate only over distances of very small magnitude — G.W.Gray b. 1886 > (3) : quantity , number < the savings in amounts of metal … will be of dramatically significant magnitudes — American Fabrics > b. : volume , loudness < the magnitude of the total sound made … was astounding — William Beebe > 3. : the importance, quality, or caliber of something < a seaside curiosity of the first magnitude — Charles Gordon > < disappointing work by a writer of first magnitude — Richard Plant > < this is no bad test of the stature, or rather the magnitude, of a poet — David Daiches > < this court can be insensible neither to the magnitude nor delicacy of this question — John Marshall > 4. : a number representing the intrinsic or apparent brightness of a celestial body on a logarithmic scale in which a difference of one unit corresponds to the multiplication or division of the brightness of light by 2.512+ and a difference of five units corresponds to the multiplication or division by 100 < a star of magnitude 3.0 is approximately 2.512 times brighter than a star of magnitude 4.0 > < a star of magnitude 1.0 is 100 times brighter than one of magnitude 6.0 > — compare absolute magnitude, apparent magnitude, visual magnitude 5. : a number assigned to a quantity by means of which the quantity may be compared with other quantities of the same class 6. : the amount of energy released at the source of an earthquake or indicated by the intensity of an earthquake at one place and usually represented by a number on an arbitrary scale Synonyms: see size |
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