Home UK English fixed point

Meaning of fixed point in English:

fixed point

noun

  • 1Physics
    A well-defined reproducible temperature which can be used as a reference point, e.g. one defined by a change of phase.

    • ‘The Fahrenheit and Celsius scales are based on two fixed points.’

  • 2Computing
    as modifier Denoting a mode of representing a number by a single sequence of digits whose values depend on their location relative to a predetermined radix point.

    Often contrasted with floating-point

    ‘these computers perform arithmetic in fixed-point binary format’
    • ‘Ada does non-integer fixed-point types, which is very rare.’
    • ‘Three units of the five deal with fixed-point operations, and the remaining two - with floating-point operations.’
    • ‘He is a longtime proponent of fixed-point arithmetic.’
    • ‘Double-precision fixed-point would employ two times 24, or a 48-bit word length; double-precision floating-point would use a two times 32, or 64-bit mantissa.’
    • ‘I was happy to see a discussion of fixed-point vs. floating-point math in the February issue.’