Quotient

In arithmetic, a quotient (from Latin: quotiens 'how many times', pronounced /ˈkwoʊʃənt/) is a quantity produced by the division of two numbers.

[3] The quotient is most frequently encountered as two numbers, or two variables, divided by a horizontal line.

The quotient is also less commonly defined as the greatest whole number of times a divisor may be subtracted from a dividend—before making the remainder negative.

For example, the divisor 3 may be subtracted up to 6 times from the dividend 20, before the remainder becomes negative: while In this sense, a quotient is the integer part of the ratio of two numbers.

[9] A rational number can be defined as the quotient of two integers (as long as the denominator is non-zero).

A more detailed definition goes as follows:[10] Or more formally: The existence of irrational numbers—numbers that are not a quotient of two integers—was first discovered in geometry, in such things as the ratio of the diagonal to the side in a square.