Word.ws English Dictionary

separatrix

/sɛpəˈɹeɪtɹɪks/

separatrix noun: the ⟨L⟩ or pipe ⟨|⟩ mark formerly used to divide integers from decimals.

Noun

separatrix (plural separatrixes or separatrices)

  1. (historical) The ⟨L⟩ or pipe ⟨|⟩ mark formerly used to divide integers from decimals.
    • Therefore in writing of decimall parts let the separatrix be always used.1660, Jonas Moore, Moor's Arithmetick, page 13
    Synonyms:
    pipe, slash
  2. (obsolete) Synonym of decimal point, which replaced such marks.
    Synonyms:
    decimal point, which replaced such marks
  3. The proofreader's mark resembling a slash ⟨ / ⟩ or vertical bar ⟨ | ⟩ placed after a note in the margin to indicate that it should replace the item(s) struckthrough in the running text or to separate it from other margin notes.
  4. A terminator: a line on a partially-illuminated surface separating the lit and shaded regions.
  5. The line between regions having different magnetic fields.
  6. The boundary separating two modes of behavior in a differential equation.

Synonyms of separatrix

Forms of separatrix

pluralseparatrixes
pluralseparatrices

Origin of separatrix

Learned borrowing from Latin sēparātrīx, the feminine form of separator (originally owing to an implied līnea (“line”)), from sēparāre (“to divide; to separate”) + -trix (forming female agents). By surface analysis, separate + -trix. First developed as a decimal mark among the medieval Arab mathematicians, whence a shorter variant gave rise to the decimal comma employed by many European countries and their former colonies.

Words that rhyme with separatrix

Questions about separatrix

What does separatrix mean?
Separatrix means the ⟨L⟩ or pipe ⟨|⟩ mark formerly used to divide integers from decimals.
What part of speech is separatrix?
Separatrix is a noun.
How do you pronounce separatrix?
Separatrix is pronounced /sɛpəˈɹeɪtɹɪks/.
What is the plural of separatrix?
The plural of separatrix is separatrixes.

Words near separatrix in the dictionary

  1. separatories
  2. separators
  3. separatory
  4. separatory funnel
  5. separatrices
  6. separatrix
  7. separatrixes
  8. separatum
  9. separature
  10. separin
  11. separins

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: separatrix (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “separatrix.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/separatrix. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.