Frac″tion (?), n. [F. fraction, L. fractio a breaking, fr. frangere, fractum, to break. See Break.] 1. The act of breaking, or state of being broken, especially by violence.
Neither can the natural body of Christ be subject to any fraction or breaking up. Foxe.
2. A portion; a fragment.
Some niggard fractions of an hour. Tennyson.
3. (Arith. or Alg.) One or more aliquot parts of a unit or whole number; an expression for a definite portion of a unit or magnitude.
Common, or Vulgar, fraction, a fraction in which the number of equal parts into which the integer is supposed to be divided is indicated by figures or letters, called the denominator, written below a line, over which is the numerator, indicating the number of these parts included in the fraction; as ½, one half, ⅖, two fifths. — Complex fraction, a fraction having a fraction or mixed number in the numerator or denominator, or in both. Davies & Peck. — Compound fraction, a fraction of a fraction; two or more fractions connected by of. — Continued fraction, Decimal fraction, Partial fraction, etc. See under Continued, Decimal, Partial, etc. — Improper fraction, a fraction in which the numerator is greater than the denominator. — Proper fraction, a fraction in which the numerator is less than the denominator.