Meaning & use
disjoint
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Meaning
adjectivenot comparablemathematics
Sharing no members or parts with another set or group.
Grammar: Used mainly in mathematics: two sets are disjoint, with no overlap.
Patterns
- disjoint from something
- be disjoint
The set of even numbers and the set of odd numbers are disjoint.
Two disjoint groups of students took the test on different days.
The two lists are disjoint, so no name appears twice.
Common combinations
- disjoint sets
- Disjoint sets have an empty intersection.
- pairwise disjoint
- The three groups are pairwise disjoint.
- disjoint union
- The class describes a disjoint union of two graphs.
- mutually disjoint
- The categories must be mutually disjoint.
- disjoint from
- This set is disjoint from the one we defined earlier.
Synonyms and how they differ
- separate
- Separate is the everyday word, whereas disjoint is a precise mathematical term for having nothing in common.
- non-overlapping
- Non-overlapping is a plain description that can fit time slots or regions, while disjoint is the formal term for sets.
- unconnected
- Unconnected is a general word and carries no technical meaning about shared members.
- mutually exclusive
- Mutually exclusive is used for events or categories that cannot both happen, and it is the probability version of disjoint.
Opposites
Word family
- disjointed adjective
- lacking connection, as in disjointed speech
- disjointedly adverb
- in a way that lacks smooth connection
- joint adjective
- shared or combined
Commonly confused: disjoint or disjointed? disjoint or distinct?
disjoint vs disjointed
Disjointed describes speech or writing that is jumpy and hard to follow, while disjoint describes sets with nothing in common.
disjoint vs distinct
Distinct means clearly different, but two distinct sets can still share some members.
Practice
Which pair of sets is disjoint?
Choose one answer.
Disjoint sets share no elements, and {a, b} and {c, d} have nothing in common. Each of the other pairs shares at least one element.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “disjoint”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.