- rounding
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/rown"ding/, adj.1. round or nearly round.2. of, pertaining to, or used for making something round.3. turning, curving, or circling around.4. pertaining to the mathematical process of rounding: a rounding error.n.5. the act or process of making something round.6. Math.a. the process of replacing a number by another number of approximately the same value but having fewer digits: To the nearest dollar, the rounding of $27.68 yields $28.b. a similar process that specifies one of various rules. Generally, the number is first truncated to one or two digits more than is desired; then the last one or two digits are adjusted in a specified way in order to reflect the magnitude of the original number. In rounding the final digits, 0-4 are simply dropped, 6-9 are dropped after the preceding digit is increased by 1, and 5 is handled in various ways depending on the surrounding digits and the particular convention being followed. Cf. truncate (def. 2).[1545-55; ROUND1 + -ING2, -ING1]
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▪ speechalso called Labialization,in phonetics, the production of a sound with the lips rounded. Vowels, semivowels, and some consonants may be rounded. In English, examples of rounded vowels are o in “note,” oo in “look,” and the u sound in “rule” and “boot”; w in “well” is an example of a rounded semivowel.Unrounding is the opposite of rounding; in unrounded vowels the lips are slack or may be drawn back, as in pronouncing the ee in “meet.” Generally speaking, front vowels tend to be unrounded and back vowels rounded, and this tendency is recognized in the classification of vowels (see vowel). However, the French u of tu, “you,” in contrast with the ou of tout, “all,” is a high front rounded vowel; Japanese has high back unrounded vowels.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
