decimal
/ˈdesɪml/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈdesɪml/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈde-sə-məl ˈdes-məl/ (ame, mw) · /ˈdes.ɪ.məl/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈdes.ə.məl/ (ame, ipa)
decimal — adjective
- decimalpositive
- more decimalcomparative
- most decimalsuperlative
1. relating to a counting system in which each position has a value ten times the p
relating to a counting system in which each position has a value ten times the position to its right, and all numbers are written using the digits 0 through 9.
The recipe uses decimal measurements, so Paul needed a scale that could weigh grams.
collocation: decimal measurements
Ramón read the decimal number 307 as three hundreds, zero tens, and seven ones.
place value in the decimal system
Élise wrote the fraction three-fourths as the decimal number 0.75.
The engineer asked Sivan to give all measurements to two decimal places.
- base-ten
more technical; used mainly in mathematics and computing
文法句型
decimal + noun
用法筆記
This adjective almost always appears before a noun — you will hear 'decimal system', 'decimal number', 'decimal point', and 'decimal place'. It is not used predicatively (❌ 'The system is decimal' sounds unnatural in most contexts).
常見錯誤
decimal — noun
- decimalsingular
- decimalsplural
1. a number written with a decimal point (.), where the digits to the right of the
a number written with a decimal point (.), where the digits to the right of the point show values smaller than one, such as 0.75 or 3.14.
Omar rounded the decimal 3.14159 to three places and got 3.142.
rounding a decimal to a given number of places
Yael added 0.75 and 0.50 on her calculator to find the total cost.
adding decimals on a calculator
When Reuben checked his calculation, he noticed the decimal was in the wrong position.
Anthony pressed the decimal key too early and entered 3.5 instead of 35.
- decimal fraction
more formal; emphasizes that the number is a fraction written with a decimal point
- decimal number
more explicit but less common in everyday speech
- integer
a whole number without a fractional part
- whole number
a number that is not a fraction or decimal
文法句型
decimal + verb (round, convert, calculate)
用法筆記
In everyday speech, 'decimal' is often short for 'decimal fraction' — a number with digits after the decimal point. It contrasts with 'whole number' or 'integer'. When reading a decimal aloud, say each digit after the point separately: 3.14 is 'three point one four', not 'three point fourteen'.