Meanings
- not comparableobsoletemathematicsOf a natural number, being larger than another natural number by a unit fraction of that smaller number.
'Tis superparticular, sesquialtera, sesquitertia […] all those geometric proportions are too little to express it.
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 3, member 1, subsection 41 more example
When a number contains the whole of another in itself, and some part of it besides, it is called superparticular. And if the part of the less it contains is the half, it is called sesquialter; if the third part, sesquitertian; if the fourth, sesquiquartan; if the fifth, sesquiquintan. And the like names being employed to infinity, the form of superparticular numbers will also proceed infinitely.
1816, Thomas Taylor, Theoretic Arithmetic, pages 37–38 - not comparableentertainmentPertaining to a ratio of any whole number to the next below it (e.g. tfrac 3 2, tfrac 8 7, etc.).
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Late Latinsuperparticulāris
- Englishsuperparticular
From Late Latin superparticulāris.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
superparticular. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superparticular
“superparticular.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superparticular. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “superparticular,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superparticular.
Source: superparticular on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.