France

Francium

1 father
2 franc
3 friar
4 from

Title used as a title equivalent to brother preceding the name of an Italian monk or friar

Nickname of Michele Pezza (1771-1806)
Italian brigand. A renegade monk, he led a gang in the mountains of Calabria, S Italy, for many years, and was eventually executed in Naples.

A noisy quarrel; brawl.

Borough in Pennsylvania (USA); zip code 17931.

A word coined by mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot in 1975 to describe a class of shapes characterized by irregularity, but in a way that evokes a pattern. Computer graphics technicians often use fractals to generate naturelike images such as landscapes, clouds, and forests. The distinguishing characteristic of fractals is that they are “self-similar”; any piece of a fractal, when magnified, has the same character as the whole. The standard analogy is that of a coastline, which has a similar structure whether viewed on a local or continental scale. Interestingly, it is often difficult to measure the length of the perimeter of such a shape exactly because the total distance measured depends on the size of the smallest element measured. For example, one could measure on a given coastline the perimeter of every peninsula and inlet, or at a higher magnification the perimeter of every small promontory and jetty, and so on. In fact, a given fractal may have a finite area but an infinite perimeter; such shapes are considered to have a fractional dimension—for example, between 1 (a line) and 2 (a plane)—hence the name fractal. See the illustration. See also cellular automata, graftal.
A geometric pattern that is repeated at every scale and so cannot be represented by classical geometry.
Irregular shape or surface produced by a procedure of repeated subdivision. Generated on a computer screen, fractals are used in creating models for geographical or biological processes (for example, the creation of a coastline by erosion or accretion, or the growth of plants).
Sets of curves with such discordant properties were developed in Germany by Georg Cantor (1845–1918) and Karl Weierstrass (1815–1897). The name was coined by the French mathematician Benoit Mandelbrod. Fractals are also used for computer art.
Fractal compression is a method of storing digitally processed picture images as fractals. It uses less than a quarter of the data produced by breaking down images into pixels. The technique was first used commercially in CD-ROM products 1993.

In mathematics, a number that indicates one or more equal parts of a whole. Usually, the number of equal parts into which the unit is divided (denominator) is written below a horizontal line, and the number of parts comprising the fraction (numerator) is written above; thus 2/3 or ¾. Such fractions are called vulgar or simple fractions. The denominator can never be zero.
A proper fraction is one in which the numerator is less than the denominator. An improper fraction has a numerator that is larger than the denominator, for example 3/2. It can therefore be expressed as a mixed number, for example, 1½. A combination such as 5/0 is not regarded as a fraction (an object cannot be divided into zero equal parts), and mathematically any number divided by 0 is equal to infinity. A decimal fraction has as its denominator a power of 10, and these are omitted by use of the decimal point and notation, for example 0.04, which is 4/100. The digits to the right of the decimal point indicate the numerators of vulgar fractions whose denominators are 10, 100, 1,000, and so on. Most fractions can be expressed exactly as decimal fractions (1/3 = 0.333.). Fractions are also known as the rational numbers, that is numbers formed by a ratio. Integers may be expressed as fractions with a denominator of 1.

In chemistry, a group of similar compounds, the boiling points of which fall within a particular range and which are separated during fractional distillation (fractionation).

ETYM French fraction, Latin fractio a breaking, from frangere, fractum, to break. Related to Break.
1. A component of a mixture that has been separated by a fractional process.
2. A small piece or item forming part of a whole.
3. The quotient of two rational numbers.