The class of scale or magnitude of any amount, where each class contains values of a fixed ratio (most often 10) to the class preceding it. For example, something that is 2 orders of magnitude larger is 100 times larger, something that is 3 orders of magnitude larger is 1000 times larger, and something that is 6 orders of magnitude larger is a milliion times larger, because 10^2 = 100, 10^3 = 1000, and 10^6 = a million
(pl. orders of magnitude) An estimate of size or magnitude expressed as a power of ten: "Earth's mass is of the order of magnitude of 1022 tons; that of the sun is 1027 tons."
A range of values between a designated lower value and an upper value ten times as large: "The masses of Earth and the sun differ by five orders of magnitude."
Two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other Each increase of one power of 10 is an increase in magnitude of 1 For example, 106 is 4 orders of magnitude above 102
a number assigned to the ratio of two quantities; two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other; the number of magnitudes that the quantities differ is specified to within a power of 10