round-off error

noun

Meaning

The small discrepancy between a true mathematical result and the value obtained by rounding off numbers during a calculation.

Examples

  • Financial systems must be carefully designed to prevent round-off error from accumulating into significant losses over millions of transactions.
  • The simulation failed because the cumulative round-off error grew large enough to invalidate the final trajectory data.

Synonyms: rounding error, truncation error, numerical error, approximation error