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quaternion

noncommutative extension of the real numbers
Thing general Q173853
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Summary

quaternion ranks in the top 0.39% of general entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (12,547 views/month, #304 of 77,819).[1]

Key Facts

  • Discoverer or inventor: William Rowan Hamilton[2]
  • Follows: complex number[3]
  • Followed by: octonion[4]
  • Subclass of: hypercomplex number[5], tetrad[6], ordered pair[7], octonion[8]
  • Part of: algebra of real quaternions[9]
  • Commons category: Quaternions[10]
  • Has part(s): real number[11]
  • Inception: 1843[12]
  • Time of discovery or invention: 1843[13]
  • Topic's main category: Category:Quaternions[14]
  • Described at URL: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/quaternione_%28Dizionario-delle-Scienze-Fisiche%29/[15], https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-strange-numbers-that-birthed-modern-algebra?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB[16]
  • Described by source: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4th edition (1885–1890)[17], Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition[18], Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary[19]
  • Stack Exchange tag: https://mathoverflow.net/tags/quaternions[20], https://math.stackexchange.com/tags/quaternions[21], https://stackoverflow.com/tags/quaternions[22], https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/tags/quaternion[23], https://computergraphics.stackexchange.com/tags/quaternions[24], https://space.stackexchange.com/tags/quaternion[25], https://hsm.stackexchange.com/tags/quaternions[26], https://mathematica.stackexchange.com/tags/quaternions[27], https://blender.stackexchange.com/tags/quaternion[28]
  • Maintained by WikiProject: WikiProject Mathematics[29]

Why It Matters

quaternion has Wikipedia articles in 29 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[30] quaternion is known by 80 alternative names across languages and contexts.[31]

Related Entities

Drahoslava Janovská Rudolf Lipschitz William Rowan Hamilton

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . Algebras, rings and modules. wikidata.org.
  2. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [8] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  11. [12] ↑ . Algebras, rings and modules. wikidata.org.
  12. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [16] ↑ . getpocket.com. Retrieved . getpocket.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  16. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  17. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  18. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  19. [20] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  20. [21] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  21. [22] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  22. [23] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  23. [24] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  24. [25] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  25. [26] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  26. [27] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  27. [28] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  28. [29] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [30] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [31] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). quaternion. Retrieved October 13, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/quaternion
MLA “quaternion.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 13 Oct. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/quaternion.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_quaternion_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{quaternion}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/quaternion}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-13}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): quaternion — https://4ort.xyz/entity/quaternion (retrieved 2026-10-13)

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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 20w ago · Twofivesixbot bot · 2026-05-24 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Followed by → octonion
    Follows → complex number
    Part of → algebra of real quaternions
    Follows → —
    + 15 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbsetclaim-update-qualifiers:1||1|2 */ National library of israel j9u id: 987007553303805171, mv to monolingual text names on J9U statements"
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