mathematician

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mathematicion,^[2][3] borrowed from Middle French mathématicien,^[4][5][6] recorded in French from about 1371;^[4] Etymonline and the Oxford Dictionary of English give Old French mathematicien.^[2][7] The French word is formed from mathématique (“mathematics; mathematical”) and the suffix -ien.^[4][5] The base goes back to Latin mathēmaticus (“of mathematics”),^[2][5][6] from Ancient Greek μαθηματικός (mathēmatikós, “relating to mathematics; disposed to learn”),^[2][8][7] from μάθημα (máthēma, “science, knowledge; a lesson, that which is learnt”),^[2][8] from a verb meaning "to learn", from Proto-Indo-European *mendh- (“to learn”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person skilled in mathematics: about 1475, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon that may have been made about 1425.^[4] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century,^[2] and Dictionary.com to 1400–50.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Like Latin mathēmaticus and the related mathematic, the word could also mean an astrologer; this sense is recorded in English from 1567 to 1710,^[4] and the Shorter Oxford dates it from the late 16th to the early 18th century.^[6] French had the same sense from 1546, in Rabelais.^[4] Johnson (1755) defined it only as a man versed in mathematics.^[9] The word replaced the native Old English rīmcræftiga.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1475 – a person skilled in mathematics.^[4] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century.^[2]
• 1567 – an astrologer (obsolete by 1710).^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An expert in or specialist in mathematics, or a student of it.^[10][5][4]
2. (obsolete, 1567–1710) An astrologer.^[4][6]

Word family

• nonmathematician

Related words

• mathematics
• mathematic
• mathematical

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
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 Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins