Taylor expansion

A Taylor expansion about a point consists of successive derivative terms there, together with either a finite remainder or an infinite Taylor series when that series represents the function.

A Peano zero through order $r$ means that the function admits the zero Taylor polynomial with remainder $o(|t{|}^r)$ at $x_0$. This does not assert the existence of ordinary iterated derivatives on a neighborhood. For example, multiplying $t^{r+1}$ by a bounded continuous function with dense points of nondifferentiability preserves this estimate while destroying neighborhood differentiability.

A parabolic approximation retains terms through second order in a local Taylor expansion. Near the closest point of a circle of radius $a$ and its tangent line, the separation is $x^2/(2a)+O(x^4/a^3)$.