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Questions tagged [terminology]

Questions on the usage and meaning of words in mathematics, the names for mathematical entities, and other such questions.

Terminology is a discipline that studies, among other things, the development of terms and their interrelationships. This tag is intended to be used for questions on the usage and meaning of words in mathematics, the names for mathematical entities, and other such questions.

8534 questions
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3D - surface area, 2D - perimeter, 1D - ?? (how do you call the equivalent term)

The other day I was thinking (while grinding some sugar to make it easier to dissolve in water): When you 'cut' a 3D object in multiple 3D objects: the total volume remains the same but the total surface area increases; When you 'cut' a 2D object…
Nikolay Suvandzhiev
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What is the opposite of a robust system?

Matrix inversion is not robust in the sense that a small difference in the input can give a large difference in the output. Is there an appropriate word to describe such a system?
Anna
  • 337
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Surface spanning a closed curve?

This a question about math terminology - What is the meaning of "a surface $S$ spanning a closed curve $\Gamma$"? I am not looking for a technical definition, just a visual understanding is enough. Thanks
Prahar
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Terminology: Groups, rings, fields, etc.

Groups, semigroups, fields, rings, integral domains, vector spaces, R-modules... these are all approximately the same sort of "stuff", but each one refers to a slightly different combination of required properties. Is there a general term that…
MathematicalOrchid
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terminology of differences

When quantity a changes to b, it can be said that the difference is d = b - a. I might call this the subtractive difference. Example: Let a be 0.02 and b be 0.03. Then d = 0.03 - 0.02 = 0.01. Applying the difference is a matter of adding to the base…
H2ONaCl
  • 131
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What is the meaning of "reduced schemes of finite type"?

What does the following term mean? category of geometrically reduced schemes of finite type over some field (I know what a category and a field is but I cannot translate any of the middle bits)
anon
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The order of a quantity

I am reading Whittaker's Analytical Dynamics. He often times talks of quantities of first order. How do you define the order of a quantity?
superAnnoyingUser
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The word "and".

If I say the difference between $x$ and $y$ Does that mean $x - y$ or $y - x$ or $|x - y|$?
Lemon
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Use of "inverse" to mean reciprocal

Oftentimes I hear people referring to reciprocals as in this example: The slopes are negative inverses, so the lines are perpendicular to each other. This always confuses me because the word "inverses" seems overly general to refer to reciprocals…
Sophie Alpert
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Does "which means" mean if or iff?

I saw in one place the phrase "A which means B" being used as "A is equivalent to B", and in another instance the same phrase being used to mean "A if only B". Which is the correct usage? My feeling is that it means "A is equivalent to B".
Hilbert
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Can an equation be called "constant"?

Let's say I have an equation $y = mx + b$. The value $b$ is commonly called a "constant" because the value does not change for any input $x$. Now let's say I have another equation $f$. This equation does not change for any scenario it is being used…
SmartAutonomyLab
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Term or factor?

I was reading a book on probability and encountered a summation expression like $$P(Y\mid X, Z) = \sum_{W}P(Y\mid X, Z, W)P(W\mid X,Z)$$ followed by the author referring to "terms of the summation". My understanding has been that term typically…
T. Webster
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Non-integral number vs non-integer number

Perhaps a rather silly question but what exactly is the difference between a non-integral number and a non-integer number? I have heard both being used but I can't really make out the difference between the two. Is a non-integral number something…
tempdev nova
  • 195
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Terminology for a set comprised of a "web of curves"?

Consider the roads in a city or the strands in a spiders web. Consider the set of points coinciding with the roads, or strands. Is there any commonly used terminology for such a set? Perhaps its called a lattice?
Angelos
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Could there more than one variable in an elementary function?

Wikipedia defines an elementary function as a function of a single variable that is defined as taking sums, products, and compositions of finitely many polynomial, rational, trigonometric, hyperbolic, and exponential functions, including possibly…
JJJohn
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