fracional

Fracional is a term found in some Romance-language contexts used as an adjective meaning relating to fractions or fractional parts. In English, the direct equivalent is fractional. The form is derived from the Latin fractio, fract- meaning to break, and is related to other fraction-derived terms such as fraction and fractional.

In mathematics, fracional usage appears in phrases describing concepts that involve fractions or fractional components. The fractional part of a real number x is the portion after the integer part and is often denoted as {x}; it equals x minus floor(x). For example, the fractional part of 3.14 is 0.14. Fracional concepts also extend to fractional exponents, such as x^(1/2), which represent roots and other non-integer-order operations. A broader field connected to these ideas is fractional calculus, which studies derivatives and integrals of non-integer order.

Beyond pure math, fracional concepts appear in applied disciplines where quantities are represented as fractions or parts of a whole. This includes statistics and probability (expressed as fractions or ratios), finance (rates and ratios), and computer science (partial or fractional values in datasets and algorithms). In scholarly and bilingual contexts, fracional is sometimes used in translations or glossaries to signal fraction-related topics when the original language employs this form.

While fracional is encountered in some texts, it is not standard in English-language mathematics literature, where the term fractional is preferred. When writing in English, using fractional, fractional part, fractional exponent, or fractional calculus generally ensures clarity.

See also: fraction; fractional part; fractional exponent; fractional calculus.