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Parameter vs Term - What's the difference?

parameter | term |

As nouns the difference between parameter and term

is that parameter is parameter while term is term.

parameter

English

Alternative forms

* parametre

Noun

(en noun)
  • (mathematics, physics) A variable kept constant during an experiment, calculation or similar.
  • (programming) An input variable of a procedure definition, that gets an actual value (argument) at execution time (formal parameter) .
  • Roughly, a tuple of arguments could be thought of as a vector, whereas a tuple of parameters''' could be thought of as a covector (i.e., linear functional). When a function is called, a '''parameter tuple becomes "bound" to an argument tuple, allowing the function instance itself to be computed to yield a return value. This would be roughly analogous to applying a covector to a vector (by taking their dot product (or, rather, matrix-product of row vector and column vector)) to obtain a scalar.
  • (programming) An actual value given to such a formal parameter (argument or actual parameter) .
  • A characteristic or feature that distinguishes something from others.
  • (geometry) In the ellipse and hyperbola, a third proportional to any diameter and its conjugate, or in the parabola, to any abscissa and the corresponding ordinate.
  • The parameter of the principal axis of a conic section is called the latus rectum.
  • (crystallography) The ratio of the three crystallographic axes which determines the position of any plane.
  • (crystallography) The fundamental axial ratio for a given species.
  • Usage notes

    * (the value used to instantiate the name) Some authors regard use of parameter'' to mean ''argument'' as imprecise, preferring that ''parameter'' refers only to the name that will be instantiated, and ''argument to refer to the value that will be supplied to it at runtime.

    Synonyms

    * (value passed to a function) argument * (characteristic distinguishing something from others) distinguishing feature * See also

    Derived terms

    * actual parameter * formal parameter

    See also

    * variable

    term

    English

    (wikipedia term)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Limitation, restriction or regulation. (rfex)
  • Any of the binding conditions or promises in a legal contract.
  • That which limits the extent of anything; limit; extremity; bound; boundary.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Corruption is a reciprocal to generation, and they two are as nature's two terms , or boundaries.
  • (geometry) A point, line, or superficies that limits.
  • A line is the term''' of a superficies, and a superficies is the '''term of a solid.
  • A word or phrase, especially one from a specialised area of knowledge.
  • "Algorithm" is a term used in computer science.
  • Relations among people.
  • * , chapter=22
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part.
  • Part of a year, especially one of the three parts of an academic year.
  • (mathematics) Any value (variable or constant) or expression separated from another term by a space or an appropriate character, in an overall expression or table.
  • (logic) The subject or the predicate of a proposition; one of the three component parts of a syllogism, each one of which is used twice.
  • * Sir W. Hamilton
  • The subject and predicate of a proposition are, after Aristotle, together called its terms or extremes.
  • (architecture) A quadrangular pillar, adorned on top with the figure of a head, as of a man, woman, or satyr.
  • Duration of a set length; period in office of fixed length.
  • (computing) A terminal emulator, a program that emulates a video terminal.
  • (of a patent) The maximum period during which the patent can be maintained into force.
  • (astrology) An essential dignity in which unequal segments of every astrological sign have internal rulerships which affect the power and integrity of each planet in a natal chart.
  • (archaic) A menstrual period.
  • * 1660 , (Samuel Pepys), Diary
  • My wife, after the absence of her terms for seven weeks, gave me hopes of her being with child, but on the last day of the year she hath them again.
  • (nautical) A piece of carved work placed under each end of the taffrail.
  • Derived terms

    {{der3, at term , blanket term , collective term , come to terms , long-term , midterm , short-term , term limit , term logic , term of art , terms and conditions , umbrella term}}

    See also

    * idiom * lexeme * listeme * word

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To phrase a certain way, especially with an unusual wording.
  • *
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.}}