fraction

The word “fraction” means a part of a whole, especially a small one. In plain terms, a piece of a whole thing, whether you mean it mathematically (1/2, 3/4) or loosely (a small part of something).

“Fraction” is pronounced FRAK-shuhn (/ˈfɹæk.ʃən/ in IPA).

Here is “fraction” used in a sentence: “Only a fraction of the applicants were interviewed.”

“Fraction” is a noun.

The word “fraction” comes from Latin. From Latin fractio ("a breaking"), from frangere ("to break") — the same root as fracture and fragment.

“Fraction” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the C1 level.

“Fraction” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a part of a whole, especially a small one.

A fraction shows a part of a whole as one number over another, such as 3/4, while a decimal shows the same idea using a point and place value, such as 0.75. They are two ways of writing amounts that are not whole numbers, and each can be converted into the other.

A fraction expresses a part of a whole as one number over another, like 1/2, while a percentage expresses a part out of 100, like 50%. They describe the same proportion in different formats.

In a fraction such as 3/4, the top number (3) is the numerator, which tells you how many parts you have, and the bottom number (4) is the denominator, which tells you how many equal parts the whole is divided into.

Yes. Outside mathematics, fraction often means a part of a whole, especially a small one, as in "only a fraction of the crowd stayed" or "a fraction of the cost." Here it stresses smallness rather than a precise numerical value.