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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.

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Question about math terminology: $n$-involutory functions?

I want to define a function $f$ to be "$n$-involutory" if it satisfies $$f(f(f\dots(x)))\dots=f^n(x)=x $$ where there does not exist $k$ such that $1 \leq k < n$ where $f^k(x) = x$. In general, is it acceptable to invent terms as long as I define…
Arkyter
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What's the term for when you end up with the same number on both sides of an equation?

If you have like $-4(5x-10)=2(6x+4)$, then if you distribute and subtract and add on both sides and that stuff you end up with $32=32$. I know there's a mathematical term for that, I think it starts with an I. What is it?
Cherry Jubilee
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Terminology of Accuracy

If a measuring instrument, say, a ruler, has a resolution of 1cm, the reading of any object is accurate to +/- 0.5 of a centimetre. Is there any terminology to describe 0.5 in this context? I’m tempted to call it uncertainty (of 0.5), but I’m not…
duckegg
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Probability: What is it called when you remove all items of a selected color?

This is possibly a very simple question. Suppose you have a container of colored balls. 3 blue, 4 purple, 2 yellow, and 1 red. We reach in and pick one out. It's purple. So we reach in and take all the purple balls out, before reaching in and…
Krythic
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What does the word "rectiplanar surface" mean?

In the following sentence: It would mean that like the Greeks, the Egyptians began to see the importance of calculating the curved surfaces of solids like the sphere in terms of a rectangular or rectiplanar surfaces. What does the term…
Michael Munta
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Etymology of "i" summation subscript?

As in: $$\sum_{i=1}^n r^i$$ It seems that $i$ is very frequently the subscript of choice in summations. Is there a historical/etymological reason why $i$ specifically is the default? Especially since $i$ already has an alternative mathematical…
Him
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Is there a term for "is mapped to by an isomorphism"?

In any context where isomorphisms are defined. For example, if $G$ and $H$ are two isomorphic groups, then there exists an isomorphism mapping their identity elements together. That is to say, their identity elements are _____, where _____ is the…
Jack M
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Should I write $n=2,7,...$ as absolute constants?

I proved an inequality, say $|f(x)| \leq C |g(x)|$. I am sure that $C$ is a number between $3.4$ and $59.8$. However I don't want to write like this, or, I don't want just say $|f(x)| \leq 60 |g(x)|$, since there are a lot of inequalities like this…
Hana
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Naming convention for fractional linear transformations

According to this Wikipedia article, Möbius transformations are known by many different names, including: homographies, homographic transformations, linear fractional transformations, bilinear transformations, and fractional linear…
bryanj
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what comes after a Millinillion and what are the patterns necessary to continue?

For example there is a PDF https://www.hoffkids.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Placenamesthrugoogol.pdf that lists all of the names of numbers up to a centillion, a 1 with 303 0s after it, with the rules: 2=bi, 3=tri, 4=quad, 5=quin,…
B''H Bi'ezras -- Boruch Hashem
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What would you call the points with a non-degenerate normal cone in a generic n-dimensional, continuous surface (without jargon)?

I would say that a "kink" or a "corner" is a point on a (continuous) line where it is non-differentiable. But I'm at a loss of words when trying to generalize this (in a similarly accessible manner) to higher dimensions. Formally, I can define what…
mimuller
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Do the phrases "arbitraty but FIXED" and "arbitrary" mean the same in the context of a proof?

I am confused but I'd think the answer is no because that being the case I could, for instance, in an induction proof suppose $p(k)$ for any (an arbitrary) $k$ (let's say a natural number) and then, if a found another natural number like $k+1$ I…
user923938
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What's the proper name for a set of random unique numeric strings?

Let's say I have a set of random strings, each one composed of digits, and they're all unique (the set doesn't contain duplicate values). Also, their lengths are equal. Is there a special name for that kind of sets ? Here's an example of such a…
Gevorg Melkumyan
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Sequential/continuous/continued/parallel addition

This may be out of topic... I have post a question in English stack exchange, but there is no answer so far... I would like to know what's the standard way to say sequential/continuous/continued/parallel multiplication or addition for calculation…
SoftTimur
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Is there a word for mistakenly using the same equality/information twice?

Just wondering if there is a word for using the same equality/information multiple times in for example a proof. Why I'm asking is since I was correcting a proof by a friend and noticed they used the same equality twice, which made the proof…
Oscar
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