Pfaffian

noun2

1. •
   The determinant of a skew-symmetric matrix, capable of being written as the square of a polynomial in the matrix entries.

   • If A is a skew symmetric matrix then det A is the square of a polynomial in the entries of A. This polynomial is known as the Pfaffian of A, and we denote it by Sym(pf A). — 1993
2. •
   (historical) A member of a circle of artists that met at Pfaff's, a restaurant on Broadway.

   • SHORTLY AFTER THE PFAFFIANS announced their version of la vie bohème in the Saturday Press, the mythos of Bohemia traveled to San Francisco. — 2009