What is the meaning of order of magnitude?

noun

  • A degree in a continuum of size or quantity.
    • usage: "it was on the order of a mile"; "an explosion of a low order of magnitude"
  • A number assigned to the ratio of two quantities; two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other; the number of magnitudes that the quantities differ is specified to within a power of 10.
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
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APAWordNet. (2010). order of magnitude. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/order_of_magnitude/definitions/1244651
ChicagoWordNet. 2010. "order of magnitude" http://smartdefine.org/order_of_magnitude/definitions/1244651 (accessed September 23, 2026).
HarvardWordNet 2010, order of magnitude, Smart Define, viewed 23 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/order_of_magnitude/definitions/1244651>.
MLAWordNet. "order of magnitude" 23 October 2010. Web. 23 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/order_of_magnitude/definitions/1244651>