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I would not say this writer was the most clear I've
ever read, but my Random House Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary, 3rd Electionic edition gives this definition
for the word:
i·dem·po·tent
(#ÆdÃm p$tÆnt, idÆÃm-),
Math. ?adj.
1.
unchanged when
multiplied by itself.
?n.
2.
an idempotent
element.
[1865?70; IDEM+POTENT1]
Also, it sounds like he's using the word incorrectly.
According to his sentence, the repeated skelatonisation
of the object does change the object: it reduces the
size of the object, and it eventually reveals the medial
axis. But, you would not expect that if the act of
skelatonisation were indeed idempotent. If it were,
repeated skelatonisations would have no effect on the
object.
Plus, I hope the subject of the work is indeed mathematics,
because it's unlikely the audience will understand the
true meaning unless the subject is math, or the readers
are mathematicians (or logophiles).
Well, it's late here in Seattle, and I have to get
to bed. Good luck in your quest for clarity.
Thom Randolph
thom -at- halcyon -dot- com
At 10:10 AM 8/19/99 +0100, Sybille Sterk wrote:
>Dear all,
>
>In one of my manuals which is an update from a previous version I have
the
>following sentence:
>
>"Exhaustive skeletonisation will continue to reduce the size of the
object
>until the medial axis is found; we can therefore say the skeletonisation
is
>an idempotent operation."
>
>This sentence has been written by a product specialist and although
the
>word 'idempotent' struck me as odd I didn't query it at the time,
thinking
>the product specialist knew what he was talking about. However now one
of
>the proof-readers has queried it,too, and I thought I find out if
anyone
>knows what it means and if it is used correctly in this context. (I
tried
>to look it up in a few dictionaries but couldn't find it, so I am not
even
>sure if it is a real word or just made-up.)
>
>Any ideas?
>
>TIA,
>
>Sybille
>
>
>
>Sybille Sterk
>Technical Author and Translator (German)
>email: sybille -at- wofabgroovy -dot- net
>
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