decimal point

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decimal point (plural decimal points)

2. (orthography, typography) A period/full stop ⟨.⟩ or middot ⟨·⟩ used to set off the decimal or fractional part of a number, traditionally widely used in some countries but not others.

   Hypernyms: decimal mark < radix point < point, mark, character, separator

   Coordinate terms: decimal comma, separatrix (obsolete)

4. (orthography, typography, loosely) Any decimal mark (decimal separator), inclusive of commas, separatrices, etc.

   Synonym: decimal mark

   Hypernyms: radix point < point, mark, character, separator

   Hyponyms: decimal comma, separatrix (obsolete)

6. (arithmetic, loosely, proscribed) A decimal place.

• The term decimal point properly refers only to those signs marking the boundary between integer and decimal numbers with a point. For convenience, it is also used to speak of marks serving a similar function in other cultures. The use of decimal point to mean one of the digits in the fractional part of a decimal is, however, typically taken to be mistaken.

• In some countries, especially those in continental Europe, the symbol used is a comma, and so the word used in the languages spoken in these countries is often the same as or derived from the word for comma.