Meaning & use

reciprocal

adjective·Academic

Given, felt, or done by each of two people or groups to the other; mutual.

See it in a sentence

The two countries signed a reciprocal trade agreement that lowered tariffs on both sides.

The reciprocal of five is one-fifth, since five multiplied by one-fifth equals one.

A note on using this word

In mathematics, the reciprocal of any nonzero number is one divided by that number; multiplying a number by its reciprocal always gives one.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

one-sided

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