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ordine di grandezza

English translation: an order of magnitude/by a factor of


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Italian term or phrase:ordine di grandezza
English translation:an order of magnitude/by a factor of
Entered by: KARIS ISABELLA DAVOGLIO
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15:09 Nov 11, 2011
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Medical - Medical: Pharmaceuticals / hemoderivatives
Italian term or phrase: ordine di grandezza
Here's the whole sentence:
"Il rischio di trasmissione di agenti infettivi è diventato negli ultimi 15-20 anni estremamente basso, perché questi prodotti, oltre a provenire da donatori controllati, sono sottoposti a trattamenti (per es. frazionamento, solventi/detergenti, calore), che abbattono una eventuale contaminazione virale di un ordine di grandezza di molti miliardi di volte"

I'm puzzled about the la wording "un ordine di grandezza di molti miliardi di volte"
Would choose 'scaling'..yet..

thank you in advance for your time and help ;-)
KARIS ISABELLA DAVOGLIO
Italy
Local time: 05:47
an order of magnitude
Explanation:
Though I would just leave it out and say something like "reduce it to billionths of its former value" or "reduce it by a factor of billions".
Selected response from:

philgoddard
Local time: 22:47
Grading comment
I like that wording:'reduce it by a factor of..! way smoother than italian:-) thank you all.
ps. sorry couldn't reply any sooner: connection down for a long time!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6an order of magnitudephilgoddard
5orders of magnitude (plural)
Dr Lofthouse


  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
an order of magnitude


Explanation:
Though I would just leave it out and say something like "reduce it to billionths of its former value" or "reduce it by a factor of billions".

philgoddard
Local time: 22:47
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 24
Grading comment
I like that wording:'reduce it by a factor of..! way smoother than italian:-) thank you all.
ps. sorry couldn't reply any sooner: connection down for a long time!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  texjax DDS PhD: I agree, leave it out.
7 mins
agree  Alexander Chisholm
12 mins
agree  Beatriz Candil Garcia
1 hr
agree  casper
1 hr
agree  James (Jim) Davis: Not sure about leaving it out. Some indication that this is a quantum leap type reduction needs to be rendered. "ordine di grandezza" means within a certain size range. with a certain No, of zeros. "I would have thought", but the author didn't.
1 hr
  -> Thanks. I would have thought "billionths" made it obvious that it was a quantum leap. "Ordine di grandezza" is simply a roundabout way of saying "approximately".
agree  lirka: yes, 'by a factor of billions' does the trick, imho
4 hrs
  -> That's a good idea.
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13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
orders of magnitude (plural)


Explanation:
One 'order of magnitude' means ONE' factor of ten' - it should be 'several orders of magnitude' (plural).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2011-11-11 15:25:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

..'several orders of magnitude' is sufficiently vague to fit with the term 'di molti miliardi' - as the actual figure/number of decimal places altered is not specified.

Dr Lofthouse
United Kingdom
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  philgoddard: You're using it in its strict mathematical sense, but it's used much more loosely in common parlance - I think the answer has to have "billions'or "billionths" in it..
1 hr
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