English Reference
Noun

subspace

n.
C1 Advanced US /ˈsəbˌspeɪs/ UK /sˈʌbspeɪs/ sub·space UK spelling subspace's, subspace's Mathematics

n.a smaller space inside a larger space where the rules of the bigger space still work. In math, it is a set of points that follows the same rules as the whole space.

n.a subset of a vector space that is itself a vector space under the same operations. It must contain the zero vector and be closed under addition and scalar multiplication.


SIMPLE

The set of all solutions to this equation forms a subspace.

CONTEXTUAL

In linear algebra, we often look for a subspace that contains only the vectors that satisfy a specific condition.

COMPLEX

The intersection of two subspaces is itself a subspace, provided that the original subspaces are defined over the same field and share the same dimensionality.


Etymology 1

From sub- + space.

Etymology 2

From sub (“submissive”) + space (“state of mind”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Occasional
Updated