FRACTAL

[noun] [C] [specialized] - a complicated irregular line or pattern in mathematics built from simple repeated shapes that are reduced in size every time they are repeatedFractals are used in the study of things like forked lightning and to produce some types of computer graphics.The way that the trunk of a tree divides into smaller and smaller branches and twigs is an approximate fractal pattern. fraction [noun] [C] - a number that results from dividing one whole number by another, or a small part of something¼ and 0.25 are different ways of representing the same fraction.Although sexual and violent crimes have increased by 10%, they remain only a tiny/small fraction of the total number of crimes committed each year.They can produce it at a fraction of the cost of (= much more cheaply than) traditional methods.The shopkeepers are complaining that business has been reduced to a fraction of (= to much less than) what it was before the outbreak of war.The five children killed last night represent a tiny fraction of those killed in the war over the last year.