Noun

(en noun)

A part of a whole, especially a comparatively small part.

*

With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get

A ratio of two numbers, the numerator and the denominator, usually written one above the other and separated by a horizontal bar.

(chemistry) A component of a mixture, separated by fractionation.

In a eucharistic service, the breaking of the .

A small amount.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.}}

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=January 29, author=Chris Bevan, work=BBC

, title= Torquay 0-1 Crawley Town , passage=After kick-off was delayed because of crowd congestion, Torquay went closest to scoring in a cagey opening 30 minutes, when Danny Stevens saw a fierce shot from the edge of the area swerve a fraction wide.}}

The act of breaking, or state of being broken, especially by violence.

* Foxe

Neither can the natural body of Christ be subject to any fraction or breaking up.

Noun

(en noun)

(obsolete, outside, heraldry) A step on a set of stairs; the rung of a ladder.

An individual step, or stage, in any process or scale of values.

A stage of rank or privilege; social standing.

* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Luke XX:

Master, we knowe that thou sayest, and teachest ryght, nether considerest thou eny mannes degre , but techest the waye of god truely.

(genealogy) A ‘step’ in genealogical descent.

* 2002 , , The Great Nation , Penguin 2003, page 140:

Louis created the École militaire in Paris in 1751, in which 500 scholarships were designated for noblemen able to prove four degrees of noble status.

* 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby-Dick) :

If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree , some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

The amount that an entity possesses a certain property; relative intensity, extent.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.}}

A stage of proficiency or qualification in a course of study, now especially an award bestowed by a university or, in some countries, a college, as a certification of academic achievement. (In the United States, can include secondary schools.)

(geometry) A unit of measurement of angle equal to 1/360 of a circle's circumference.

(physics) A unit of measurement of temperature on any of several scales, such as Celsius or Fahrenheit.

(mathematics) The sum of the exponents of a term; the order of a polynomial.

(graph theory) The number of edges that a vertex takes part in; a valency.

(surveying) The curvature of a circular arc, expressed as the angle subtended by a fixed length of arc or chord.