arithmetic

views updated

arithmetic the branch of mathematics dealing with the properties and manipulation of numbers. The term comes (in Middle English, via Old French and Latin) from Greek arithmētikē (tekhnē) ‘(art) of counting’, from arithmos ‘number’. Early forms such as arsmetrike were influenced by Latin ars metrica ‘measuring art’.

In the Middle Ages, arithmetic was counted as one of the seven liberal arts, and was one of the subjects of the quadrivium.

More From encyclopedia.com