This is a place holder for potential sponsor logos.

terms from foreign languages used in mathematics (html version)

This entry is best viewed in html mode. For the page images version, click here.

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
	Faltung	folding	convolution
	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 ``'' [may be pronounced ``doh'']	letter ``d''	e.g. in $\frac{\partial f}{\partial x}$ [see partial derivative]

terms from foreign languages used in mathematics (html version) is owned by Warren Buck, silverfish, Algeboy, J. Pahikkala, Pedro A. Fernandez, yark.

How to Cite This Entry

Warren Buck, silverfish, Algeboy, J. Pahikkala, Pedro A. Fernandez, yark. "terms from foreign languages used in mathematics (html version)" (version 50). PlanetMath.org. Freely available at http://planetmath.org/TermsFromForeignLanguagesUsedInMathematics.html.

Classification

AMS MSC:	00A99 (General :: General and miscellaneous specific topics :: Miscellaneous topics)
	00A20 (General :: General and miscellaneous specific topics :: Dictionaries and other general reference works)

Pending Errata and Addenda

None. [ View all 2 ]

Interact

Discussion

italic Russian d by J. Pahikkala 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 Warren Buck 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 Pedro A. Fernandez on 2006-06-14 03:04:40
- Re: PM by Pedro A. Fernandez on 2006-06-14 03:20:58
- - Re: PM by Pedro A. Fernandez on 2006-06-14 03:26:08
Re: PM by alozano on 2006-06-14 08:40:24

stipulations by Warren Buck 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 ]

Username:
Password:

Register
I've forgotten my login details

Login

terms from foreign languages used in mathematics (html version)

Latin

German

French

Russian

How to Cite This Entry

Classification

Tags

Pending Errata and Addenda

Interact

Discussion