separatrix
Plural: separatrices, separatrixes
Noun
- a punctuation mark (/) used to separate related items of information
- The ⟨L⟩ or pipe ⟨|⟩ mark formerly used to divide integers from decimals.
- Synonym of decimal point, which replaced such marks.
- The proofreader's mark resembling a slash ⟨ / ⟩ or vertical bar ⟨ | ⟩ placed after a note in the margin to indicate that it should replace the item(s) struckthrough in the running text or to separate it from other margin notes.
- A terminator: a line on a partially-illuminated surface separating the lit and shaded regions.
- The line between regions having different magnetic fields.
- The boundary separating two modes of behavior in a differential equation.
Origin / Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin sēparātrīx, the feminine form of separator (originally owing to an implied līnea (“line”)), from sēparāre (“to divide; to separate”) + -trix (forming female agents). By surface analysis, separate + -trix. First developed as a decimal mark among the medieval Arab mathematicians, whence a shorter variant gave rise to the decimal comma employed by many European countries and their former colonies.
Synonyms
diagonal, slash, solidus, stroke, virgule, decimal point, pipe#Noun, slash#Noun, which replaced such marks
Scrabble Score: 19
separatrix: not valid in Scrabble (US) TWL Dictionaryseparatrix: not valid in Scrabble (MW) Merriam-Webster Dictionary
separatrix: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary