Truncate (Number)

Pronunciation: /ˈtrʌŋ.keɪt/ Explain

A number is truncated by removing digits^[3]. For example, truncating the number 14.784 to three digits yields 14.7. Note that truncating is not the same as rounding.

Number	Truncate to digits	Truncated Number
14.87482	1	10
14.87482	2	14
14.87482	3	14.8
14.87482	4	14.87
14.87482	5	14.8748
14.87482	6	14.87482
Table 1: Truncation examples

In computer languages, to truncate means to convert a floating point or decimal number to an integer^[3]. The following code truncates the floating point number 3.62 to the integer 3 and prints '3'.

float num1 = 3.62;
integer num2 = trunc(num1);
print num2

The following code truncates a floating point number 7.2832 to two decimal places and prints '7.28'.

float num1 = 7.2832;
float num2 = trunc(num1 * 100.0) / 100.0;
print num2;

References

1. McAdams, David E.. All Math Words Dictionary, truncate (number). 2nd Classroom edition 20150108-4799968. pg 183. Life is a Story Problem LLC. January 8, 2015. Buy the book
2. truncate. merriam-webster.com. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Last Accessed 12/26/2018. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/truncate. Buy the book
3. Decimal Truncate Method. MSDN Library. Microsoft. Last Accessed 12/16/2018. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.decimal.truncate.aspx.

Cite this article as:

McAdams, David E. Truncate (Number). 12/21/2018. All Math Words Encyclopedia. Life is a Story Problem LLC. https://www.allmathwords.org/en/t/truncate.html.

Revision History

12/21/2018: Reviewed and corrected IPA pronunication. (McAdams, David E.)
12/16/2018: Removed broken links, updated license, implemented new markup. (McAdams, David E.)
7/18/2018: Changed title to common format. (McAdams, David E.)
12/13/2009: Initial version. (McAdams, David E.)