algebra

Forms

algebra f (genitive algebrae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Arabic الْجَبْر (al-jabr, “restoration, setting of bones”).^[1][2][3] Köbler traces the mathematical sense to the Arabic name of the science of “restorings and comparisons”, the title of a textbook,^[4] and Etymonline to the 9th-century treatise on equations by the Baghdad mathematician al-Khwarizmi, whose name also gave algorismus.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first datable use is medical: the surgery of William of Saliceto has a third book de algebra, on the setting of broken bones,^[2][4] and a medical glossary explains that those who practise it are healers of flesh or setters of broken bones.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The medical sense, the setting of fractured or dislocated bones, or a restorative, is the one the MLW, the DMLBS and Du Cange record first.^[2][3][6] Beside it the word named the mathematical art: the British translator Robertus Anglicus has a book algebrae et almucabola on arithmetical and geometrical questions,^[3] Du Cange defines it as the science of numbers,^[6] and the Czech lexicon glosses it as a game with numbers.^[7] Wiktionary labels the word Medieval and New Latin.^[1]

From the Latin the word passed into the European languages: Italian algebra, French algèbre, German Algebra,^[1] and English algebra, recorded from the 1550s.^[5]

Timeline

• 1275 – William of Saliceto calls a book of his surgery de algebra, on setting broken bones.^[2][4]
• 1550s – English algebra is taken from it.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) The setting of broken or dislocated bones; a restorative.^[2][3][6]
2. (mathematics) Algebra, the science of numbers.^[3][6][1]

Related words

• algorismus
• English algebra

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
7. ^ Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences