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fraction
A rational number that represents a part, or several equal parts, of a whole; examples include one-half, two-thirds, and three-fifths. The word comes from the Latin frangere, meaning "to break." A simple, common, or vulgar fraction is of the form a/b, where a may be any integer and b may be any integer greater than 0. If a < b, the fraction is said to be proper ("bottom heavy"); otherwise it is improper ("top heavy"). A decimal fraction has a denominator (number on the bottom) of 10, 100, 1000, etc.
Related entry
• continued fraction
Related category
• TYPES OF NUMBERS
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