order of magnitude

order of magnitude

n. pl. orders of magnitude

1. An estimate of size or magnitude expressed as a power of ten: Earth's mass is of the order of magnitude of 10²² tons; that of the sun is 10²⁷ tons.

2. A range of values between a designated lower value and an upper value ten times as large: The masses of Earth and the sun differ by five orders of magnitude.

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order of magnitude

n

(Mathematics & Measurements / Statistics) the approximate size of something, esp measured in powers of 10 the order of magnitude of the deficit was as expected their estimates differ by an order of magnitude Also called order

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	order of magnitude - a degree in a continuum of size or quantity; "it was on the order of a mile"; "an explosion of a low order of magnitude" order magnitude - the property of relative size or extent (whether large or small); "they tried to predict the magnitude of the explosion"; "about the magnitude of a small pea"
	2.	order of magnitude - a number assigned to the ratio of two quantities; two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other; the number of magnitudes that the quantities differ is specified to within a power of 10 magnitude ratio - the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient)