Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

approximation

 noun
     
ap‧prox‧i‧ma‧tion [uncountable and countable]
1 a number, amount etc that is not exact, but is almost correct [= estimate]
approximation of
an approximation of the total
a rough/crude approximation (=one that is not very exact)
Could you give us a rough approximation of the cost?
2 something that is similar to another thing, but not exactly the same
approximation of/to
It was the nearest approximation to a crisis she'd ever experienced.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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