Latin in Mathematics
----Zeb Micic (Y8)
There are many instances in Mathematics where phrases of letters are derived from Latin. In this (brief) article I will go over some of the most common examples.
Perhaps, the most known and the most used is ‘e.g.’, this is derived from ‘exempli gratia’, which means ‘for example’
Another common one is: ‘i.e.’ (id est), literally ‘that is’.
Take note of, ‘n.b.’ - ‘note well’. This is a way of saying ‘take note’ (no pun intended!)
I have included some more, here, in tabular format’:
Latin
English
‘as infinitum’
‘to infinity’, a process or operation that can be carried out endlessly.
‘a fortiori’
‘with stronger reason’ (e.g. if every multiple of four is even, then a fortiori every multiple of four isA even).
‘ipso facto’
‘by that very fact’
‘per impossibile’
(this one is self explanatory!)
‘quod erat demonstrandum’ (QED)
‘that which was to have been proved’
‘quod erat faciendum’ (QEF)
‘that which was to have been shown’
For the sake of completeness I have included some other common Latin terms: ‘ad hoc’ (for immediate purpose), ‘alma mater’ (old university/college), ‘A.D’ or ‘anno Domini’ (in the year of our Lord), ‘bona fide’ (in good faith), ‘de facto’ (in actual fact), ‘erratum’ (error), ‘et cetera’ (and so forth), ‘ibid’ (in the same place) and the old favorite, ‘P.S’ (‘post scriptum’).
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