ALGORISM

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 21 June 2012

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Word of the Day:

ALGORISM  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) the Arabic or decimal system of counting
2. (n.) calculating by means of the Arabic figures 1 through 9, plus zero: arithmetic
3. (n.) calculating with any form of notation
4. (n.) the rule for solving a specific kind of arithmetic problem: algorithm

Useful info for word game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Current theme:

Numbers

Epilogue:

The ninth century Persian mathematician Muhammed ibn Mūsa al-Khwārizmi (c. 780-c. 850) had an enormous influence on mathematics, as well as a surprisingly deep influence on the English language.  He wrote the book on algebra — literally — and is directly linked to several mathematical terms.

Al-Khwārizmi’s book Al-Kitāb al-mukhtasar fī hisāb al-jabr wa'l-muqābala (“The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing”) (c. 830) was an influential work that laid out the basic rules of algebra.  Although al-Khwārizmi was not the discoverer of algebraic mathematics (ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, and Greeks worked out the basics first), his work was so influential that the word al-jabr (“completion”) in the title of his book eventually became the word ALGEBRA in English. 

Al-Khwārizmi also wrote several other important texts relating to mathematics, astronomy, and geography.  His stature as a mathematician was so great that his name eventually became synonymous with the Arabic numbering system (0-9) itself: the medieval Latin form of al-Khwārizmi eventually morphed into the English ALGORISM.  In turn ALGORISM, still used today to refer to the decimal system of counting or to computation using it, also influenced the development of the word ALGORITHM (a step-by-step procedure for solving a mathematical problem).  In this case, al-Khwārizmi’s name probably became conflated with the Greek arithmos (“number”), leading to the form ALGORITHM.

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