prenex

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin praenexus (“bound up in front”), from Latin prae- (“before”) and nexus, past participle of nectō (“to bind”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹi.nɛks/

Adjective

prenex (not comparable)

1. (mathematics, logic) Of a formula, having all of its quantifiers at the beginning.
   • 1999, Neil Immerman, Descriptive Complexity, New York: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, page 12:

     "We say that $\phi$ is universal iff it can be written in prenex form — i.e. with all quantifiers at the beginning — using only universal quantifiers."

Derived terms

• prenex normal form

 

Noun

prenex (plural prenexes)

1. (mathematics, logic) The initial part of a prenex formula where all of the formula's bound variables are bound by logical quantifiers.

   $\forall x.\exists y.$ is the prenex of the formula $\forall x.\exists y.P(x,y)$