mathematician

English

Alternative forms

• mathematitian (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English mathematicion, from Middle French mathematicien, from mathematique f sg (“mathematics”) (from Latin mathēmatica, feminine of mathēmaticus, from Ancient Greek μαθηματικός (mathēmatikós, “fond of learning”), from μάθημα (máthēma, “knowledge, learning”) + -ικός (-ikós)) + Middle French -ien (from Latin -iānus). Displaced native Old English rīmcræftiga. By surface analysis, mathematic +‎ -ian.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌmæθ(.ə)məˈtɪʃ.ən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃən

Noun

mathematician (plural mathematicians)

1. An expert on mathematics.
   • 1992 March 2, Richard Preston, “The Mountains of Pi”, in The New Yorker:

     I suspect that in their hearts most working mathematicians are Platonists, in that they take it as a matter of unassailable if unprovable fact that mathematical reality stands apart from the world, and is at least as real as the world, and possibly gives shape to the world, as Plato suggested. Most mathematicians would probably agree that the ratio of the circle to its diameter exists brilliantly in the nature beyond nature, and would exist even if the human mind was not aware of it, and might exist even if God had not bothered to create it.

Synonyms

• mathematicist

Hyponyms

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “mathematician”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.