The degree of numeric accuracy that requires the use of one computer word. In single precision, seven digits are stored, and up to seven digits are printed. Contrast with double precision.

An internal representation of numbers that can have fractional parts. Single precision numbers keep track of fewer digits than do double precision numbers, but operations on them are less expensive in terms of CPU time. This is the type used by some very old versions of awk to store numeric values. It is the C type float.

Refers to a level of coordinate accuracy based on the number of significant digits that can be stored for each coordinate. Single-precision numbers store up to 7 significant digits for each coordinate, retaining a precision of 5 meters in an extent of 1,000,000 meters. ArcInfo data sets can be stored as either single- or double-precision coordinates. See also double precision.

In computing, single precision is a computer numbering format that occupies one storage location in computer memory at a given address. A single-precision number, sometimes simply a single, may be defined to be an integer, fixed point, or floating point.