Degree
When using the term "quadratic polynomial", authors sometimes mean "having degree exactly 2", and sometimes "having degree at most 2". If the degree is less than 2, this may be called a "degenerate case". Usually the context will establish which of the two is meant.
Sometimes the word "order" is used with the meaning of "degree", e.g. a second-order polynomial.
Read more about this topic: Quadratic Polynomial
Famous quotes containing the word degree:
“I began to realize that it was bigotry of the worst kind to say that its better to be dead than to be born retarded or blind or without a limb. Its a value judgment youre making about someones life, based on their degree of perfection.”
—Juli Loesch (b. c. 1953)
“I still lack to a considerable degree that naturally superior kind of manner that I would dearly like to possess.”
—Heinrich Himmler (19001945)
“Devout believers are safeguarded in a high degree against the risk of certain neurotic illnesses; their acceptance of the universal neurosis spares them the task of constructing a personal one.”
—Sigmund Freud (18561939)