reciprocal

reciprocal

English

Etymology

Latin reciprocus, possibly from a phrase such as reque proque (“back and forth, to and fro”), from re- (“back”), prō (“forwards”) and -que (“and”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈsɪpɹək(ə)l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

reciprocal (not comparable)

1. Of a feeling, action or such: mutual, uniformly felt or done by each party towards the other or others; two-way.

   reciprocal love; reciprocal duties

   • Shakespeare

     Let our reciprocal vows be remembered.

2. Mutually interchangeable.
   • I. Watts

     These two rules will render a definition reciprocal with the thing defined.

3. (grammar) expressing mutual action, applied to pronouns and verbs; also in a broad sense: reflexive
4. (mathematics) Used to denote different kinds of mutual relation; often with reference to the substitution of reciprocals for given quantities.
5. Done, given, felt, or owed in return

   a reciprocal invitation to lunch

Synonyms

• mutual, two-way
• contrary, opposite, converse, inverse, inverted, cross
• (grammar): reflexive
• See also Thesaurus:contrary

Derived terms

• irreciprocal

Related terms

• reciprocity

Translations

done by each of two people towards the other

Arabic: مُتَبَادَل‎ (mutabādal) Belarusian: узае́мны (uzajémny) Bulgarian: взаи́мен (bg) (vzaímen) Catalan: recíproc (ca), mutu Chinese: Mandarin: 相互 (zh) (xiānghù), 互相 (zh) (hùxiāng) Czech: vzájemný (cs) Danish: reciprok (da) Finnish: vastavuoroinen (fi) French: réciproque (fr) m or f Galician: recíproco m Georgian: ორმხრივი (ormxrivi), თანაზიარი (tanaziari), ურთიერთზიარი (urtiertziari) German: gegenseitig (de), reziprok (de) Greek: αμοιβαίος (el) (amoivaíos) Hebrew: הדדי‎ (he) (hadadi) Icelandic: please add this translation if you can (please verify) gagnvirkur Latin: mutuus. reciprocus Lithuanian: savitarpinis

Macedonian: взаемен (vzaemen) Maori: whakautuutu Norwegian: Bokmål: gjensidig (no) Nynorsk: gjensidig Polish: wzajemny (pl) m Portuguese: recíproco (pt) Romanian: reciproc (ro), reciprocă f Russian: взаи́мный (ru) (vzaímnyj), обою́дный (ru) (obojúdnyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: узајаман Roman: uzajaman (sh) Slovak: vzájomný Slovene: vzajemen Spanish: mutuo (es), recíproco (es) Ukrainian: взає́мний (vzajémnyj) Volapük: rezipik (vo)

done, given, felt, or owed in return

Catalan: al revés, a l'inrevés (ca) Finnish: päinvastainen (fi) Georgian: საპასუხო (saṗasuxo), ნაცვალგების (nacvalgebis) German: entgegengesetzt, umgekehrt (de) Maori: whakautuutu Norwegian: Bokmål: gjensidig (no) Nynorsk: gjensidig

Polish: odwrotny (pl) m Romanian: invers (ro) m Russian: обра́тный (ru) (obrátnyj) Spanish: al revés

Noun

reciprocal (plural reciprocals)

1. (arithmetic) The number obtained by dividing 1 by another given number; the result of exchanging the numerator and the denominator of a fraction.

   0.5 is the reciprocal of 2.

2. (grammar) A construction expressing mutual action.
   • 2008, Ekkehard König, ‎Volker Gast, Reciprocals and Reflexives: Theoretical and Typological Explorations

     Depending on where reciprocalization applies (syntax vs. lexicon), the relevant reciprocal verbs are claimed to exhibit specific properties, in particular: (i) syntactic reciprocals are fully productive whereas lexical reciprocals have only limited productivity; […]

Synonyms

• (in arithmetic): multiplicative inverse

Translations

in mathematics

Chinese: Mandarin: 倒数 (zh) Dutch: omgekeerde (nl) n Finnish: käänteisluku (fi) French: inverse (fr) f German: Kehrwert (de) m Hebrew: הופכי / הָפְכִּי‎ m (hofkí) Icelandic: umhverfa f, margföldunarumhverfa f, margföldunarandhverfa f

Japanese: 逆数 (ja) (gyakusū) Maori: tau huripoki, tau taupoki Polish: odwrotność (pl) f Portuguese: recíproca f Russian: (please verify) обратная величина́ (obratnaja veličiná) Swedish: invers (sv) c Tagalog: kabaligtad