Etymologically
Log in

exponential

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:49. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˌɛk.spəˈnɛn.t͡ʃəl/, /ˌɛk.spəʊˈnɛn.tʃəl/[1]

Etymology

The OED takes the mathematical word partly as borrowed from New Latin exponentialis, first recorded in 1697 in a correspondence between B. Nieuwentyt and Johann Bernoulli printed in the “Acta Eruditorum”, formed from exponens (“exponent”) and the suffix -ālis, and partly as formed from English exponent + -ial.[2] Etymonline, Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com derive it from exponent alone,[3][4][5] and the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English from French exponentiel,[6][7] which the OED finds in Bernoulli in 1704 in the phrase courbe exponentielle.[2] Exponent is from the present participle of Latin expōnō (“to put forth”),[3][7] the source of expound.[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of an equation or quantity in mathematics, involving a variable in an exponent: 1701, in G. Cheyne's New Theory of Acute and Slow Continu'd Fevers.[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the word to 1704,[3][4] and Dictionary.com to 1695–1705.[5]

Semantic evolution

The word was first a mathematician's term;[2][6] Johnson (1755) explained exponential curves only, quoting Harris.[8] The noun, an exponential expression or function, is recorded from 1704, in C. Hayes's Treatise of Fluxions.[2][3] A rare sense "expository", formed from exponent, appears in Bailey's dictionary in 1730.[2] Merriam-Webster notes the use of the adjective for growth in which one factor depends on another, as in a quotation from F. H. Hankins that culture grows in an exponential manner.[4] From 1955, in the Washington Post, it was used more loosely of any increase that becomes faster and faster,[2] and Collins labels the sense "very rapid" informal.[9]

Timeline

  • 1701 – in mathematics, involving a variable as (part of) an exponent.[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the adjective to 1704.[3][4]
  • 1704 – noun, an exponential expression or quantity.[2]
  • 1730 – expository (rare).[2]
  • 1755 – Johnson's dictionary explains exponential curves.[8]
  • early 20th century – the adverb exponentially.[6]
  • 1955 – of an increase, becoming more and more rapid.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (mathematics) Of, involving or expressed by an exponent, especially one that is a variable: an exponential equation.[9][4][2]
  2. (mathematics) Raised to a power of e, the base of natural logarithms.[9]
  3. Of growth or change: increasing ever faster, or (informal) very rapid: The startup saw exponential growth in its first year.[9][2][6]

Noun

  1. (mathematics) An exponential function or quantity.[9][2][6]

Word family

  • exponentially
  • nonexponential
  • exponentiation
  • exponential function
  • exponent
  • expound
  • exponentiate

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins