mantissa

Meaning

Noun

• A minor addition to a text.
• The part of a common logarithm after the decimal point, the fractional part of a logarithm.
• The significand; that part of a floating-point number or number in scientific notation that contains its significant digits.

Origin

• Borrowed from Latin mantissa, mantīsa, of unknown origin (said by Festus to be a loanword from Etruscan, but it may actually be from Celtic, possibly through Etruscan mediation).