unification meaning

Noun: unification  `yoonufu'keyshun

1. An occurrence that involves the production of a union
   - fusion, merger 
2. The state of being joined or united or linked
   - union 
3. The act of making or becoming a single unit
   "he looked forward to the unification of his family for the holidays"
   - union, uniting, conjugation, jointure

Derived forms: unifications

See also: unify

Type of: combination, combining, compounding, state, union

Encyclopedia: Unification

[Computer]
<programming> The generalisation of pattern matching that is the logic programming equivalent of instantiation in logic. When two terms are to be unified, they are compared. If they are both constants then the result of unification is success if they are equal else failure. If one is a variable then it is bound to the other, which may be any term (which satisfies an "occurs check"), and the unification succeeds. If both terms are structures then each pair of sub-terms is unified recursively and the unification succeeds if all the sub-terms unify.

The result of unification is either failure or success with a set of variable bindings, known as a "unifier". There may be many such unifiers for any pair of terms but there will be at most one "most general unifier", other unifiers simply add extra bindings for sub-terms which are variables in the original terms.

Examples

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1. the press afforded a means of unification and of mutual stimulation.
2. full unification took place only at the beginning of the twentieth century.
3. it suggests different layers of sophistication and a trend towards the unification of the knowledge.
4. the search for generality and unification is one of the distinctive features of twentieth century mathematics.
5. european unification was absorbing more of their energies and dedication than the elaboration of atlantic institutions.