Etymology of Words Mathematica

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Etymology of Words Mathematica

• Professor Lusk
• MGF 1107/Fall 2000
• Submitted By
• Lyndale Kob

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Introduction
Have you ever wondered where some of the
mathematical terms that we use today
originated? In this presentation, we will uncover
the beginnings of some common mathematical terms
that we use today. This study of word origins and
word history is called ETYMOLOGY. Lets have some
fun!
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Weighty Words
Carat and Karat
The words carat and karat are related and
both come from the Arabic word for bean pod.
In this case, the carob bean. What do beans
have to do with measuring precious metals and
gems? When jewels first began to be used as a
means of exchange and payment, people needed a
way to measure their relative weight and
consequent value. These early traders discovered
that the smallest jewels weighed about the same
as one bean, so larger gems could be described
as two beans (two carats) and so on.. A
carat today is standardized at 200
milligrams. So what
about karat?
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Karat
The measure of the purity of gold is referred to
as karat. Like the carat, this measure is
also based on the weight of beans. In this
case, however, it has come to equal a unit of
one-twenty-fourth pure gold. Therefore, an
18-carat gold ring is 18 parts gold and 6
parts other metal, making a total of twenty-four
parts or twice your monthly salary in easy
monthly payments. Isnt this math fun?
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Liquid Measurements
The word ounce originated from the Italian word
onza, (abbreviation oz) which means, of
course, ounce. An ounce is equal to 2
tablespoons of liquid. The word pint began
as pynte in the mid 14th century. It
translates into a vessel containing a pint of
liquid. A pint is equal to 16 fluid ounces
or 2 cups. The quart is not surprising in
origin. It is related to quarter, or one
fourth. It was borrowed from the French
quarte, a fourth part, and came from the
Latin word, quartus, or fourth. A quart is
equal to 4 cups, 2 pints, or 32 fluid ounces.

(theres more!)
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More Liquid Measurements
Gallon was galun in the early 13th century. It
was borrowed from Old North French galon, which
corresponds to Old French jalon, meaning
liquid measure. These come from, of course,
medieval Latin galleta meaning bucket, and
galla for vessel.
A bit of trivia for you The ten gallon hat does
not have the capacity of ten gallons! The
gallon in ten gallon hat comes from
Spanish sombrero galon, meaning braided hat!
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Old British Beer Measurements
Now that we have passed the one gallon mark, you
can refresh yourself with some old British
beer measurements. 1 firkin 9 (beer)
gallons 1 kilderkin 18 gallons 2 kilderkin 1
barrel or 36 gallons 1 1/2½ barrels 1 hogshead
or 54 gallons 1 1/3 hogshead 1 puncheon or 72
gallons 1 ½ puncheons or 2 hogsheads 1 butt or
pipe or 108 gallons 2 butt or pipes 1 tun or
216 gallons That is a lot of beer! Lets move on
to length measurements.
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Measurements of Length
In medieval England, King Edward I took a
giant step forward in the world of measurements.
He ordered a permanent measuring stick made of
iron to serve as a master yardstick for the
entire kingdom. This master yardstick was called
the iron ulna, after the bone of the forearm,
and it was standardized as the length of a yard,
very close to the length of our present day
yard. King Edward realized that constancy and
permanence were the key to any standard. He
also decreed that the foot measure should
be one-third the length of the yard (the size of
his foot), and the inch to equal one
thirty-sixth.
(theres more!)
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Measurements of Length II
The word inch comes from the Latin word uncia
or twelfth part, whose source is unus or
one. The word foot was chosen, as
mentioned previously, to apply to the length of
a mans foot. The word yard has several
possible beginnings The first relating to the
yardarms of sailing ships. Another nautical
theory holds that the yard in question is a
yard of ale a long, thin drinking glass.
(Theres more?)
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The Whole Nine Yards
Now that we have covered the whole nine
yards, you might be wondering where that
particular phrase came from. Amazingly, there
are several answers to this question. One
proposal is that when a large ship had all her
sails set, she would be running the whole nine
yards. Another proposal concerns a yard,
a tall glass of ale. It seems that newly
promoted sailors in the British Navy were
required by tradition to make the rounds of a
certain nine pubs near the London docks, drinking
a yard of ale at each .
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The Whole Nine Yards II
Another theory has it that fighter planes in
World War II carried nine yards of ammunition
belts in their machine guns. Therefore, a flier
who had seen heavy action on a mission was said
to have used the whole nine yards.
Or, in the case of our ground troops, the
whole nine yards referred to the ammunition
carried to supply the 50 caliber machine gun. A
small case carried three yards of ammunition, but
a full case carried nine yards. Obviously, a
full case was three times as heavy which made
these soldiers ask the inevitable question, Do
we have to carry the whole nine yards?
Please continue..
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The Whole Nine Yards III
The phrase whole nine yards could also have
come from the fact that rotating cement mixer
trucks had a capacity of nine cubic yards.
When the mixer had completed its job, it had
discharged the whole nine yards.
Can you believe theres MORE? Check out
the next slide!
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The Whole Nine Yards IV
The last theory we will discuss is
concerning prisons. It is said that this phrase
originated due to the fact that the construction
of prisons at one time included an outside wall
and then, nine yards outside of that, a fence.
If a
prisoner attempting to escape made it over the
wall, across those nine yards, and over the
fence, he was said to have gone the whole nine
yards.
Isnt that interesting? Please continue on..
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Bonus Words
We all know that a paradigm is a pattern
or model. But did you know that it also evolves
from a Latin word? (Are you beginning to see a
pattern with mathematics and Latin?) Paradigm
comes from paradigma, meaning pattern or
example. It first entered the English language
in 1483.
Why are pounds, when used as a weight abbreviated
as lbs? The origin is in the Latin word
libra, which could mean both balance
scales and also a pound weight for which the
full expression was libra pondo, the second
word being the origin of our pound.
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More Bonus Words
The word compass means to go around or
encircle.
A hypotenuse is the side opposite the
right angle in a triangle. It is Greek in origin
with hypo meaning under and teinen meaning
to stretch. You might say it is under
tension.
Isomorphic is also a Greek word with
iso meaning the same, and morphe
meaning shape or form. Isomorphic is defined
as having equality of measure.
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I hope you have enjoyed this presentation on
the etymology of mathematical terms. If you are
interested in exploring the origins of other
mathematical terms, you may seek them out using
any of the below listed bibliographical sites.
http//info.astrain.net/jargon/terms/m.html http/
/history.math.csusb.edu http//forum.swarthmore.ed
u/dr.math www.takeourword.com www.quinion.com www.
wordwithyou.com Book Mathematica by Professor
Lusk, GCCC, 2000