Standard Lemma guide

nonlinear

adj · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: N AA0 N L IH1 N IY2 ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of a set of points, not lying on a straight line.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: linear

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of a molecule, whose atoms do not lie in a straight line.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Of a function, having a product of independent variables, or a variable with an exponent not equal to one.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Of a system, whose output is not directly proportional to its input.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Erratic and unpredictable; tending to jump back and forth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • a film with a nonlinear plot

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective

Meaning 6

designating or involving an equation whose terms are not of the first degree

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: linear

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Germanic *ne Proto-Indo-European *ís? Proto-Indo-European *h1óynos Proto-Germanic *ainaz Proto-Germanic *nainaz Proto-West Germanic *nain Old English nān Middle English non ▲ Old English nān Old English nān- Middle English non- English non- Proto-Indo-European *līnomder. Proto-Italic *līnom Latin līnum Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Indo-European *-éyos Proto-Italic *-ejos Proto-Italic *-eos Latin -eus Latin līneus Latin līnea Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin -āris Latin līneārisbor. English linear English nonlinear From non- + linear.

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 非線性 /非线性 (fēixiànxìng) — of a set of points: not lying on a straight line
  • Finnish: epälineaarinen — of a set of points: not lying on a straight line
  • German: nicht linear — of a set of points: not lying on a straight line
  • German: nichtlinear — of a set of points: not lying on a straight line
  • Hindi: अरैखिक (araikhik) — of a set of points: not lying on a straight line
  • Hindi: अरेखीय (arekhīya) — of a set of points: not lying on a straight line
  • Italian: non lineare — of a set of points: not lying on a straight line
  • Romanian: neliniar — of a set of points: not lying on a straight line
  • Russian: нелине́йный (nelinéjnyj) — of a set of points: not lying on a straight line
  • German: nicht linear — chemistry, of molecules
  • German: nichtlinear — chemistry, of molecules
  • Czech: nelineární — mathematics, of a function
  • German: nicht linear — mathematics, of a function
  • German: nichtlinear — mathematics, of a function
  • Indonesian: nirlanjar — mathematics, of a function
  • Indonesian: tak lanjar — mathematics, of a function
  • Kazakh: бейсызықты (beisyzyqty) — mathematics, of a function
  • Kazakh: бейсызықтық (beisyzyqtyq) — mathematics, of a function
  • Kazakh: сызықты емес (syzyqty emes) — mathematics, of a function
  • Czech: nelineární — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • Finnish: epälineaarinen — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • French: non-linéaire — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • German: nicht linear — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • German: nichtlinear — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • Italian: non lineare — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • Japanese: 非線形 (hisenkei) — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • Korean: 비선형 (biseonhyeong) — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • Romanian: neliniar — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • Spanish: no lineal — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • Swedish: icke-linjär — of a system: whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • German: nicht linear — erratic and unpredictable
  • German: nichtlinear — erratic and unpredictable
Real reading context

nonlinear in complete knowledge articles