chaos theory
/ˌkeɪˌɑs ˈθiəɹi/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.18 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The study of chaos or disorder in systems, specifically iterative non-linear systems in which arbitrarily small variations in initial conditions become magnified over time, and where within apparent randomness there are underlying patterns; (countable) one of such theories.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Theoretical and numerical modelling research promises to bring us tantalizingly close to deterministic climate prediction in the near future, while proponents of "chaos" theories hint that prediction may be an illusive dream."
- "[David] Warsh gives three diverse examples spread throughout our century and indicating the broad nature of this punctuational challenge to gradualism (he might have supplied many more, including catastrophe and chaos theories in mathematics, and [Michel] Foucault's notions of social and intellectual change): […]"
- "He [Robert May, Baron May of Oxford] took us on [an] interesting exploration of some of the important concepts of mathematics, from Euclidean geometry via the concept of imaginary numbers to the mathematics of fractals and chaos theory and the extraordinary power of mathematics to describe observed real-world phenomena."
- "Chaos theory, sometimes called the science of complexity, is a new mathematical understanding of physical phenomena represented by systems of nonlinear equations. […] The meteorologist Edward N[orton] Lorenz (1917–2008) introduced the term "butterfly effect" to describe his own insight that a small change in initial conditions can have a dramatic effect on later events, […] Lorenz used computer modeling to illustrate his ideas and developed a set of well-known equations used in chaos theory."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌkeɪˌɑs ˈθiəɹi/
- British English: /ˌkeɪɒs ˈθɪəɹi/