Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Ratio

Ra′ti·o (rā′shĭ·ō or rā′shō), n. [L., fr. reri, ratus, to reckon, believe, think, judge. See Reason.] 1. (Math.) The relation which one quantity or magnitude has to another of the same kind. It is expressed by the quotient of the division of the first by the second; thus, the ratio of 3 to 6 is expressed by 3⁄6 or ½; of a to b by a/b; or (less commonly) the second term is made the dividend; as, a:b = b/a.

☞ Some writers consider ratio as the quotient itself, making ratio equivalent to a number.

The term ratio is also sometimes applied to the difference of two quantities as well as to their quotient, in which case the former is called arithmetical ratio, the latter, geometrical ratio. The name ratio is sometimes given to the rule of three in arithmetic. See under Rule.

2. Hence, fixed relation of number, quantity, or degree; rate; proportion; as, the ratio of representation in Congress.

Compound ratio, Duplicate ratio, Inverse ratio, etc. See under Compound, Duplicate, etc. — Ratio of a geometrical progression, the constant quantity by which each term is multiplied to produce the succeeding one.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.