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Unit vs Parameter - What's the difference?

unit | parameter |

As nouns the difference between unit and parameter

is that unit is a standard measure of a quantity while parameter is a variable kept constant during an experiment, calculation or similar.

As an adjective unit

is for each unit.

unit

English

(Unit)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (sciences) A standard measure of a quantity.
  • The centimetre is a unit of length.
  • The number one.
  • This pill provides 500 units of Vitamin E.
  • An organized group comprising people and/or equipment.
  • He was a member of a special police unit .
  • (military, informal) A member of a military organization.
  • The fifth tank brigade moved in with 20 units .'' (''i.e., 20 tanks )
  • (US, military) Any military element whose structure is prescribed by competent authority, such as a table of organization and equipment; specifically, part of an organizationJoint Publication 1-02 U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms; 12 April 2001 (As Amended Through 14 April 2006). .
  • (US, military) An organization title of a subdivision of a group in a task force.
  • (US, military) A standard or basic quantity into which an item of supply is divided, issued or used. In this meaning, also called unit of issue.
  • (US, military) With regard to Reserve Components of the Armed Forces, denotes a Selected Reserve unit organized, equipped, and trained for mobilization to serve on active duty as a unit or to augment or be augmented by another unit. Headquarters and support functions without wartime missions are not considered units.
  • (algebra) An element of a ring having a multiplicative inverse. (Formerly just the identity element 1R of a ring.)
  • (geology) A volume of rock or ice of identifiable origin and age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features (facies) that characterize it.
  • (commerce) An item which may be sold singly.
  • We shipped nearly twice as many units this month as last month.
  • (UK, electricity) One kilowatt-hour (as recorded on an electricity meter).
  • (Australia, New Zealand) a measure of housing equivalent to the living quarters of one household, an apartment where a group of apartments is contained in one or more multi-storied buildings or a group of dwellings is in one or more single storey buildings, usually arranged around a driveway.
  • (historical) A gold coin of the reign of James I, worth twenty shillings.
  • (Camden)

    Synonyms

    * (identity element) identity element, unit element

    Adjective

    (-)
  • For each unit.
  • We have to keep our unit costs down if we want to make a profit.
  • (mathematics) Having a size or magnitude of one.
  • * 1990 , William W. S. Wei, Time Series Analysis , ISBN 0201159112, page 9:
  • Consider the following time sequence
  • *:: Z_t=A\sin(\omega t+\theta),
  • where A is a random variable with a zero mean and a unit variance and \theta is a random variable with a uniform distribution on the interval [-\pi,\pi] independent of A.

    Derived terms

    * construction unit * tractor unit * unit aircraft * unitality * unit cost * unit combat readiness * unit commitment status * unit designation list

    References

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    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