order of magnitude meaning and definition

ORDER OF MAGNITUDE noun

Definition of order of magnitude (noun)

1. a degree in a continuum of size or quantity
   • "it was on the order of a mile"; "an explosion of a low order of magnitude"
   • synonyms: order
2. a number assigned to the ratio of two quantities; two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other; the number of magnitudes that the quantities differ is specified to within a power of 10
   • synonyms: magnitude