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terms from foreign languages used in mathematics (html version) (Topic)

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Following are terms from foreign languages that appear in mathematical literature. Each chart (TeX object tabular) contains terms from the foreign language indicated. The foreign languages are ordered according to how many terms appear in its corresponding chart. In each chart, the terms are listed in alphabetical order.

Latin

abbr. term literal translation mathematical usage
  a fortiori with stronger reason used in logic to denote an argument to the effect that because one ascertained fact exists; therefore another which is included in it or analogous to it and is less improbable, unusual, or surprising must also exist
  a priori from the former already known/assumed
  ad absurdum to absurdity an assumption is made in hopes of obtaining a contradiction [reductio ad absurdum is also used]
  ad infinitum to infinity endlessly, infinitely
  casus irreducibilis not-reducible case roots real but not expressible via real radicals
cf. confer compare used to suggest that another work might also be consulted in relation to that argument
et al. et alii and others used in multi-author references but it is customary to include all the authors in the first citation and/or in the bibliography
e.g. exempli gratia for example's sake for example
ibid. ibidem in the same place relates to the immediately prior source
i.e. id est that is that is
inf inferior, infimum lowest limit inferior; greatest lower bound
  inter alia among other things among other things
loc. cit. loco citato in the place already mentioned relates to sources before the immediately prior citation [probably less frequent than op. cit.]
lb logarithmus binaris binary logarithm log. in base 2
lg logarithmus generalis general logarithm log. in base 10
ln logarithmus naturalis natural logarithm log. in base $ e$
  mutatis mutandis once changing thing to be changed repeat the similar argument for the related case
N.B. nota bene note well the following is important
op. cit. opere citato in the work already mentioned relates to sources before the immediately prior citation [probably more frequent than loc. cit.]
QED quod erat demonstrandum which was to be demonstrated end of proof
QEF quod erat faciendum which was to be done end of construction
  regula falsi rule of false position Newton's method
  sine qua non without which it could not be an essential condition or element; an indispensable thing
sup superior, supremum uppermost limit superior; least upper bound
viz videlicet that is to say, namely a keynote abbreviation

German

abbr. term literal translation mathematical usage
  Ansatz approach, attempt assumed form for an expression
  eigen characteristic, typical eigenvalue; eigenvector
  Grösse, Größe size, magnitude Grössencharacter
  im kleinen in the small connected im kleinen
  Nullstellensatz zero point theorem zero point theorem
  Stufe stair, level stufe of a field
  Urelement primeval element set element which is not a set
$ V$, $ K_4$ Vierergruppe four-group Klein 4-group
$ \mathbb{Z}$ Zahlen numbers integers
$ Z$ Zentrum center center (of a group)

French

abbr. term literal translation mathematical usage
  espace space (topological) space [see Espace Étalé]
  étale slack étale fundamental group; étale morphism; étale site
  étalé spread out, displayed Étalé space
p.p. presque partout almost everywhere almost everywhere

Russian

abbr. term literal translation mathematical usage
$ \partial$ italic “д” [may be pronounced “doh”] letter “d” e.g. in $ \frac{\partial f}{\partial x}$ [see partial derivative]



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See Also: terms from foreign languages used in mathematics (page images version), mathematics vocabulary

Also defines:  a fortiori, a priori, ad absurdum, ad infinitum, Ansatz, cf., confer, doh, eigen, espace, et al., et alii, étale, étalé, e.g., exempli gratia, ibid., ibidem, i.e., id est, inter alia, logarithmus binaris, binary logarithm, logarithmus generalis, general logarithm, logarithmus naturalis, natural logarithm, loc. cit., loco citato, mutatis mutandis, N.B., NB, nota bene, op. cit., opere citato, p.p., presque partout, sine qua non, stufe, urelement, ur-element, viz, videlicet, Zahlen, Zentrum
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Cross-references: partial derivative, almost everywhere, étale site, étale fundamental group, slack, Espace Étalé, integers, Klein 4-group, stufe of a field, Nullstellensatz, connected im kleinen, grössencharacter, size, eigenvector, eigenvalue, expression, limit superior, supremum, Newton's method, QEF, QED, ln, base, log, greatest lower bound, limit inferior, infimum, expressible, real, roots, casus irreducibilis, infinity, reductio ad absurdum, contradiction, logic, literal, contains
There are 91 references to this entry.

This is version 49 of terms from foreign languages used in mathematics (html version), born on 2006-06-13, modified 2008-04-21.
Object id is 8029, canonical name is TermsFromForeignLanguagesUsedInMathematics.
Accessed 23306 times total.

Classification:
AMS MSC00A99 (General :: General and miscellaneous specific topics :: Miscellaneous topics)
 00A20 (General :: General and miscellaneous specific topics :: Dictionaries and other general reference works)

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italic Russian d by pahio on 2006-06-14 03:41:09
``doh'' (i.e. d and a long vowel o) is _one_way_ for pronouncing the italic Russian letter d in mathematical utterances, such as the partial derivative \frac{\partial f}{\partial x}. The way is much used e.g. in Finland. Thus the partial derivative can be read
"doh f doh x", as we read dy/dx "dee y dee x".

There may be alternative ways to read the italic Russian d in mathematics, but I don't know such. I don't even know whether the Cyrillic d is pronounced ``doh'' in some Slavic language. I have learned ``doh'' in 1961 of the famous number-theorist K. Inkeri (see http://users.utu.fi/taumets/inkeri.htm).

It were interesting to hear the alternative ways for pronouncing the mathematical ``doh'', especially in the English-speaking countries.

Jussi
[ reply | up ]
PM by Wkbj79 on 2006-06-14 00:45:02
Unfortunately, the string of posts that started with "Latin abbreviations" seems to have disappeared. I'm guessing that this is because I deleted the object, "e.g.", to which the first post (made by pahio) was attached. Is there any way that we can still access these?

In any case, since this is the surviving entry that is most closely related, it makes sense for me to post here.

Within the string of posts "Latin abbreviations", the user alozano was kind enough to post:

"...On the other hand, congratulations to Wkbj79 for the many quality entries she/he has contributed so far, plus the corrections filed.

Alvaro"

I am glad that you appreciate it. I would like to point out that being active in PM helps me. Adding entries helps cement mathematical concepts in my mind, and it also gives me practice using TeX, at which I was somewhat rusty a month ago.

One thing that I hope will happen is that people are able to access information that will help them understand mathematical concepts, give them ideas for how to explain mathematics (especially important in the case of teachers), and stimulate their curiosity in higher mathematics and/or fields of mathematics with which they might not be familiar. I see no reason why PM cannot attempt to achieve this.

One additional aspect that I appreciate about PM is that I feel that most of us who are active here are striving to become better mathematicians and are trying to help others become better mathematicians.

Warren

PS -- For the record, it's "he". :-)
[ reply | up ]
  • Re: PM by perucho on 2006-06-14 03:04:40
    • Re: PM by perucho on 2006-06-14 03:20:58
      • Re: PM by perucho on 2006-06-14 03:26:08
  • Re: PM by alozano on 2006-06-14 08:40:24
stipulations by Wkbj79 on 2006-06-13 16:05:59
I ask two things of those who choose to edit this object:

1. Please put the term that you are adding in the "Defines:" section (near "Synonyms:", "Related:", etc.)

2. Please do not change the tabular. With the exception of array (which, to the best of my knowledge, only exists in math mode), tabular is the only chart-like object in TeX that I know how to create/edit.

If you have any questions as to how to add to this entry, please feel free to post or send me an e-mail (Wkbj79@aol.com).

Warren
[ reply | up ]

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