mathematics

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/ (UK); /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is the plural of Middle English methametik, mathematik (see mathematic),^[2][3][4] probably after French (les) mathématiques,^[5][6] from Latin mathematica, from Greek μαθηματικὴ τέχνη (mathēmatikḕ tékhnē, “mathematical science”),^[2][7] from μάθημα (máthēma, “something learned; knowledge”), from μανθάνω (manthánein, “to learn”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The science of quantity: 1581 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1580s in Etymonline.^[8][2][3] The singular methametik is from before 1387, in Trevisa.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that the word took its final -s later, on the pattern of physics.^[4] It was originally one of the three branches of Aristotelian theoretical science, with first philosophy (metaphysics) and physics.^[3] Originally the collective name for geometry, arithmetic and certain physical sciences such as astronomy and optics, it later took in other branches using mathematical methods.^[8] The abbreviations maths (British) and math (American) are later.^[9][10]

Timeline

• before 1387 – methametik.^[2]
• 1581 – mathematics.^[8][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (used with a singular verb) The abstract science of number, quantity and space, including arithmetic, algebra and geometry.
2. (used with a plural verb) The mathematical aspects of something: the mathematics of the problem.

Word family

• biomathematics
• math
• maths
• metamathematics

Related words

• mathematical
• mathematician
• polymath

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins