posicional

Posicional is an adjective used in Spanish and Portuguese to denote relation to position. In technical contexts it describes systems, methods, or descriptions in which the meaning or value of an element depends on its placement within a sequence or structure. The term is common across disciplines such as mathematics, computer science, surveying, and linguistics, where position plays a central role in interpretation.

In mathematics and computer science, the term is closely associated with positional numeral systems and notation. A positional numeral system assigns a value to each digit according to its place in the number (for example, tens, hundreds, or binary powers). The decimal system is the most familiar example, but bases such as binary, octal, and hexadecimal are also positional. Positional notation contrasts with non-positional representations, where symbols do not reflect place value. A zero placeholder is a key feature that enables representing different values through position.

In computing, positional concepts appear in areas such as parameter passing, indexing, and data structures. Positional parameters or arguments are provided in a fixed order, and their meaning depends on their position. Arrays, strings, and lists rely on index-based access, which is inherently positional.

In surveying and geographic information systems, positional data describe a point’s location in a coordinate system, and positional accuracy or uncertainty measures how close a reported position is to the true location. Positional information underpins navigation, mapping, and geospatial analysis.

Overall, posicional highlights the importance of place and order in representing values, data, and locations across multiple fields.