Etymologically
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algebraic

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌæl.d͡ʒɪˈbɹeɪ.ɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is partly formed from English algebra + -ic,[2][3][4][5] and partly borrowed from Middle French algébraïque (1585),[2] which is from New Latin algebraicus, recorded from 1545 or earlier.[2] The noun algebra goes back to algebra, a word of Arabic origin.[2][3] The OED compares the later algébrique (1740) and German algebraisch (1600).[2] The longer form algebraical is older, from the 1570s in Etymonline.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to algebra: 1653, in John Webster's Academiarum Examen.[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1660s,[3] and Merriam-Webster gives 1571 as its first known use.[6]

Semantic evolution

The word first described anything belonging to or used in algebra, including a sum taken with its plus or minus sign.[2] From 1657 it was applied more narrowly to an expression built only from addition, multiplication, powers and their inverses,[2] the sense in which mathematicians contrast it with transcendental.[6][4] In 1912 it was extended to numbers that are roots of a polynomial with whole-number coefficients,[2] and since 1853 it has also named the chess notation in which each square is identified by its file and rank.[2]

Timeline

  • 1570s – the longer form algebraical.[3]
  • 1653 – of or relating to algebra.[2]
  • 1657 – of an expression, using only a finite number of algebraic operations.[2][6]
  • 1853 – in chess, of the notation that names each square by coordinates.[2]
  • 1912 – of a number, being a root of a polynomial with integer coefficients.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to, or using algebra: an algebraic formula.[7][6][2]
  2. (mathematics) Of an expression or equation, using only a finite number of operations such as addition, multiplication and taking roots, as opposed to transcendental.[6][2][4]
  3. (mathematics) Of a number, being a root of a polynomial with whole-number coefficients.[2]
  4. (chess) Of the notation that names each square by its file and rank.[2]

Word family

  • algebraically
  • nonalgebraic
  • subalgebraic
  • algebraic function
  • algebraic equation
  • algebraic extension
  • algebraic topology
  • algebraic geometry

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins