mathematic

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English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English mathematik, from Old French mathematique or directly from Latin mathēmaticus, from Ancient Greek μᾰθημᾰτῐκός (mathēmatikós), from μάθημα (máthēma, learning; mathematics) + -ικός (-ikós, -ic, adjective suffix).

Adjective[edit]

mathematic (comparative more mathematic, superlative most mathematic)

  1. (archaic) mathematical
    • c. 1798, Joseph Fawcett, On Viſiting the Gardens at Verſailles:
      Round rolls the stroke with mathematic care,
      All centre-bound, exactly circular:
      No sportive way it takes, at large and free,
      No gambol plays of freakful liberty []
    • 1874 June 1, Francis Barham, “On Swedenborg’s Theology. An Unpublished Fragment.”, in The Intellectual Repository and New Jerusalem Magazine (Enlarged Series; XXI), volume XLIX (Entire Work), number 246, London: Published by the General Conference of the New Church, signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation: And sold by James Speirs, 36 Bloomsbury Street, →OCLC, page 263:
      This is the sort of struggle which proves a man's metal, and declares it sterling or counterfeit. No spuriosity, no charlatanry can stand this fiery alembic of hard-wrought and exquisite calculation, in which one mathematic point or unit misplaced destroys the whole chain of reasoning, and proves the candidate a blunderer.

Derived terms[edit]