Origins of Mathematical Words: A Comprehensive Dictionary of Latin, Greek, and Arabic Roots

M

198 longitude The Latin word for length is longitudo, longitudinis. loxodrome The Greek adjective loxÒj means slanting, crosswise, oblique, while the noun drÒmoj means a course, a race; the latter noun is related to drame‹n, the second aorist infinitive of tršcw, to run. This is a modern word for a curve on the sphere that intersects each meridian of longitude at the same angle. There was already a classical Greek word for oblique-running, loxotrÒcij. loxodromic This word is formed by the addition of the stem of the Greek adjectival suffix -ikÒj to the stem of the modern noun loxÒdromoj. It means pertaining to the loxodrome. Loxodromic mappings are discussed by Konrad Knopp in Elements of the Theory of Functions, translated by Frederick Bagemihl, Dover Publications, Inc., 1952, page 58. lune The Latin word for the moon is luna. A lune is the region of a circle remaining after the removal of a lens. M magic The Greek adjective magikÒj means pertaining to a m£goj or Persian wise man. The Greek adjective was transliterated into Latin as magicus, and from that, upon removal of the case ending, we get our noun magic. magnitude The abstract Latin noun magnitudo, which means great size, is derived from the adjective magnus, great, by adding the nominal suffix -tudo to the stem. major This is the Latin comparative adjective maior. The positive degree is magnus. The superlative is maximus. It means bigger, greater. 199 According to Struik (pp. 90, 265), the symbol > for greater than was first used by Harriot (1560–1621). mantissa The Latin noun mantissa means an addition of comparatively small importance, a makeweight. In mathematics it is the decimal part of the logarithm, of less importance than the characteristic. marginal The Latin noun margo, marginis means border, edge. The adjective marginalis is formed by addition of the adjectival suffix -alis to the stem of the noun. mass The Latin noun massa means a lump. math This is a regrettable abbreviation, no less silly than it is natural, for mathematics. Underwood Dudley was correct when, while lecturing on his book about mathematical quacks, he condemned the use of this word as opposed to the dignity of the subject. It is an example of cataloguese, like chem, comp sci, poly sci, psych, and so on. Some subjects escape this degradation, like philosophy, physics, and the names of languages. Cataloguese is a debased form of English and is extremely ugly. Its common use is deplorable. mathematics This is the Greek word maqhmatik£, from the verb manq£nw, to learn. It is the name of the subject whose branch of knowledge is traditionally and correctly equated with learning itself. The story is told by Vitruvius (De Architectura l. 6, c. 1) that once upon a time, the Socratic philosopher Aristippus was travelling by sea with some of his disciples when a storm arose, and they were shipwrecked on an island. The students were alarmed and expressed their concern that the inhabitants might lay violent hands upon them. Amid the panic, Aristippus took a look around and then commented that they had no reason to fear because he had just noticed the signs of intelligent humanity on the beach. The students humbly asked, “Where are those signs?” The philosopher pointed to a diagram that had been drawn in the sand with a stick. It was the diagram for Proposition 1 of Book I of Euclid’s Elements of Geometry, the construction of the equilateral triangle. What was the lesson? It was 200 that the infallible and reassuring sign of civility is mathematics. Mathematical people are not dangerous, and they may be expected to behave rationally. Gauß called mathematics the Queen of the Sciences. As we see from the story of Aristippus and from the title assigned to mathematics by Gauß, our subject has always been acknowledged to be not only special, a sign of civilization, but paramount, a sovereign. Statements to this effect by famous thinkers may be multiplied without end. The chief personality of the Enlightenment had this to say about mathematics in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: The mathematics are distinguished by a peculiar privilege, that, in the course of ages, they may always advance and can never recede. (Chapter LII, p. 427 of the first edition of vol. 5, 1788) Thus, in the opinion of Gibbon...