Phrase guide

partial order

noun · 1 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.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

(informal) An ordering of the elements of a collection that behaves like that of the natural numbers by size, except that some elements may not be comparable (if all elements are comparable, it is called a total order); (formal) a binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, order-theory, sciences, set-theory

Examples

  • 1986, Kenneth R. Goodearl, Partially Ordered Abelian Groups with Interpolation, American Mathematical Society, Softcover reprint 2010, page xxi, A partial order on a set X is any reflexive, antisymmetric, transitive relation on X. In most cases, partial orders are denoted ≤.
  • 1999, Paul A. S. Ward, An Online Algorithm for Dimension-Bound Analysis, Patrick Amestoy, P. Berger, M. Daydé, I. Duff, V. Frayssé, L. Giraud, D. Ruiz (editors), Euro-Par ’99 Parallel Processing: 5th International Euro-Par Conference, Proceedings, Springer, LNCS 1685, page 144, The vector-clock size necessary to characterize causality in a distributed computation is bounded by the dimension of the partial order induced by that computation.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 偏序关系 — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • Czech: uspořádání — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • Finnish: osittainen järjestys — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • Finnish: osittaisjärjestys — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • French: ordre partiel — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • German: Halbordnung — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • German: partielle Ordnung — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • Japanese: 半順序 (hanjunjo) — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • Korean: 부분 순서 (bubun sunseo) — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • Polish: częściowy porządek — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • Russian: части́чный поря́док (častíčnyj porjádok) — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
  • Swedish: partiell ordning — binary relation that is reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive