floating-point
adjective
float·ing-point
ˈflō-tiŋ-ˌpȯint 
variants
or floating point
mathematics
: using or involving a notation in which a number is represented as a number with an absolute value between 1 and the base (see base entry 1 sense 4e(2)) multiplied by a power of the number base indicated by an exponent (as in 4.52E2 for 452 in base 10)
A floating point operation requires at least several thousand elementary binary operations.—
Geoffrey Murray
Geoffrey MurrayIf a simple operation like multiplying floating-point numbers would require a set of instructions, then a procedure of any useful scale would involve putting many such sets of instructions together.—Andrew Hodges
compare fixed-point, scientific notation
Andrew HodgesExamples of floating-point in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Here, the problem is linear only when the measurements are not quantized with full precision of floating-point numbers.
—Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 23 Jan. 2024
There are several accessories meant to extend the Book 8088's capabilities; there's an open socket for an Intel 8087 floating-point coprocessor, a Sound Blaster-compatible sound card accessory from Yamaha, and an external dongle with three slots for ISA expansion cards.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 19 May 2023
The big change from the last set of training benchmarks was that the company had enabled Gaudi 2’s 8-bit floating-point (FP8) capabilities.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 Nov. 2023
One of the main problems is that floating-point accuracy is pretty consistent no matter how big or small the number.
—IEEE Spectrum, 7 Sep. 2023
One popular approach is known as quantization, which reduces data requirements by representing weights using fewer bits, for instance using 8-bit floating-point numbers rather than 32-bit.
—IEEE Spectrum, 31 Mar. 2023
In practice, this usually means using different types of floating-point formats for the different parts of a training task.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2023
There’s an awful lot of bit patterns in floating-point arithmetic no one ever uses.
—IEEE Spectrum, 25 Sep. 2022
Traditional supercomputers used in HPC and advanced research focus on double-precision (64-bit) floating-point performance (see the TOP500 list).
—Kevin Krewell, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2023
Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 23 Jan. 2024
There are several accessories meant to extend the Book 8088's capabilities; there's an open socket for an Intel 8087 floating-point coprocessor, a Sound Blaster-compatible sound card accessory from Yamaha, and an external dongle with three slots for ISA expansion cards.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 19 May 2023
The big change from the last set of training benchmarks was that the company had enabled Gaudi 2’s 8-bit floating-point (FP8) capabilities.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 Nov. 2023
One of the main problems is that floating-point accuracy is pretty consistent no matter how big or small the number.
—IEEE Spectrum, 7 Sep. 2023
One popular approach is known as quantization, which reduces data requirements by representing weights using fewer bits, for instance using 8-bit floating-point numbers rather than 32-bit.
—IEEE Spectrum, 31 Mar. 2023
In practice, this usually means using different types of floating-point formats for the different parts of a training task.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2023
There’s an awful lot of bit patterns in floating-point arithmetic no one ever uses.
—IEEE Spectrum, 25 Sep. 2022
Traditional supercomputers used in HPC and advanced research focus on double-precision (64-bit) floating-point performance (see the TOP500 list).
—Kevin Krewell, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'floating-point.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near floating-point
Cite this Entry
“Floating-point.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/floating-point. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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