approximant
noun
ap·prox·i·mant
| \ ə-ˈpräk-sə-mənt
\
\
plural approximants
Definition of approximant
1
phonetics
: a speech sound that is formed by the passage of air between two articulators (such as the lips or tongue) which are close but not touching and that is usually classified as a consonant
The initial consonant in raw is also an approximant, at least for those speakers of English who do not trill or flap the r.— John Clark et al., An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, 2007
2
mathematics
: a mathematical method or function that is used to find an approximation
While the expression n/log n is a fairly simple approximation for Ï€(n), it is not terribly close, and mathematicians have been interested in improving it. Of course, one does this at the price of complicating the approximant.— Philip J. Davis, The Mathematical Experience, 1999
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