Erratic and unpredictable; tending to jump back and forth.
Used in a Sentence
nonlinear
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for nonlinear.
Editorial note
All the computation is performed by the complex nonlinear integration of action potentials across the dendritic tree.
Examples7
Definitions4
Parts of speech1
Quick take
Erratic and unpredictable; tending to jump back and forth.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of nonlinear gathered in one view.
(mathematics, of a function) Having a product of independent variables, or a variable with an exponent not equal to one.
(of a system) Whose output is not directly proportional to its input.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for nonlinear.
adjective
Erratic and unpredictable; tending to jump back and forth.
adjective
(mathematics, of a function) Having a product of independent variables, or a variable with an exponent not equal to one.
adjective
(of a system) Whose output is not directly proportional to its input.
adjective
(of a set of points) Not lying on a straight line.
Example sentences
All the computation is performed by the complex nonlinear integration of action potentials across the dendritic tree.
There's two smart places you can put it, and for very slow flows that's in front of the nonlinear term.
With multipath the measurement becomes nonlinear in your scene and inversion isn't as trivial.
No nonlinear effects are possible that would make that happen differently?
But to summarize very briefly, it's not a buzzword; it's a technical term referring to a network with multiple nonlinear layers that are chained together in sequence.
Analog circuits/neuromorphics are useful for this (as well as the asynchronous dynamics) but good luck fabricating a chip that operates in 3D and integrates an arbitrary nonlinear equation.
It's frustrating, because I think the most fruitful area we can work on is developing a better understanding / mathematical formulation of the incredibly high dimensional, nonlinear, stochastic spaces that biological systems live in, but it's difficult to see the way forward because no on (that I know of) is putting time into thinking about it.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use nonlinear in a sentence?
All the computation is performed by the complex nonlinear integration of action potentials across the dendritic tree.
What does nonlinear mean?
Erratic and unpredictable; tending to jump back and forth.
What part of speech is nonlinear?
nonlinear is commonly used as adjective.