decimallike

Decimallike is a coined term used to describe mathematical objects or representations that resemble decimal numerals and their properties. In practice, decimallike refers to structures that use a radix point and a ten-digit symbol set, typically {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}, or that imitate decimal arithmetic, even when the underlying base differs. The term is not standard in mathematics, and its precise meaning depends on context. Some discussions use decimallike to denote expansions that employ a decimal-like point with digits 0–9 after and before it, regardless of whether the base is ten; others use it to describe digit sequences that behave like decimal expansions in terms of truncation, rounding, and infinite continuation.

Variants and interpretations include:

- Decimallike expansions: real numbers expressed with a radix point and digits from 0 to 9, even in non-decimal bases.

- Decimallike digit sets: ten-symbol alphabets used to encode digits in a non-decimal base.

- Digital decimallike objects: sequences or arrays of digits that mirror decimal arithmetic properties.

Examples and limitations:

- The ordinary decimal expansion of pi is decimallike.

- A fixed-point representation in software that uses a decimal point and ten-digit radix can be described as decimallike.

- A system using ten symbols is not automatically decimallike if the base or arithmetic rules differ substantially.

Applications and context:

- The term is mainly used in pedagogical explanations, discussions of digit patterns, and informal analyses of numeral systems and data encoding. See also decimal, numeral system, base-n representation, fixed-point, and floating-point.