Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tensor

/ˈtɛn.sɚ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.03 in modern English

Syllables: ten-sor
IPA: /ˈtɛn.sɚ/

6

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A muscle that tightens or stretches a part, or renders it tense.

noun

A mathematical object that describes linear relations on scalars, vectors, matrices and other algebraic objects, and is represented as a multidimensional array.

noun

A mathematical object that describes linear relations on scalars, vectors, matrices and other algebraic objects, and is represented as a multidimensional array.

noun

A norm operation on the quaternion algebra.

Obsolete

verb

To compute the tensor product of two tensors or algebraic structures.

Example Sentences

"The tensor #92;alpha#95;#123;ij#125; should really be called a “tensor of second rank,” because it has two indexes. A vector—with one index—is a tensor of the first rank, and a scalar—with no index—is a tensor of zero rank."

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin tensor (“that which stretches”), equivalent to tense + -or. Anatomical sense from 1704. Introduced in the 1840s by William Rowan Hamilton as an algebraic quantity unrelated to the modern notion of tensor. The contemporary mathematical meaning was introduced (as German Tensor) by Woldemar Voigt (1898) and adopted in English from 1915 (in the context of general relativity), obscuring the earlier Hamiltonian sense. The mathematical object is so named because an early application of tensors was the study of materials stretching under tension. (See, for example, Cauchy stress tensor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia )

Origin

Source language: German

Word Breakdown

Root: tensor

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈtɛn.sɚ/
British English: /ˈtɛn.sə/

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

tensors (plural) tensores (plural) tensors (present, singular) tensoring (participle, present) tensored (participle, past) tensored (past)

Derived Forms

bitensor tensorial

Phrases

tensor algebra tensor field tensor operator tensor product tonic tensor tympani syndrome

Frequently Paired Words

scalar vector

Rhymes With

spencer sensor censor dispenser denser condenser spenser biosensor censer ensor menser mencer

Questions

How do you pronounce tensor?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈtɛn.sɚ/.
What does tensor mean?: A muscle that tightens or stretches a part, or renders it tense.
Where does tensor come from?: It is traced to German.

How to pronounce tensor

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tensor”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈtɛn.sɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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