Green River Community College
Reading in the Disciplines--MATH
Here are some common terms you will find in mathematics. Most of these words are built from Greek and Latin word parts.
GEOMETRY comes from “geo” (earth) + “metros” (measure)
FRACTION comes from the Latin “fract” (to break)
PERCENT comes from “per” (by) + “centum” (hundred) = “by the hundred”
PERIMETER comes from “peri” (around) + “metros” (measure)
DIAMETER comes from “dia” (across) + “metros” (measure)
MULTIPLY comes from “multi” (many) + “pli” (folds)
DIVIDE comes from the root “vidua” (a separation) *the word “widow” shares this root, and so does the word “individual” (one that cannot be divided)
SUBTRACT comes from “sub” (under) + “tract” (to pull)
ZERO comes from the Arabic root “zefirum” (empty)
COMPUTE comes from “com” (with) + “putare” thinking
SOLVE comes from the Latin root “solvere” (to loosen, untie). By 1533 people were using the word to mean (explain, answer).
DECIMAL comes from “decimus” (tenth) Think about the Spanish word for 10 (diez). It comes from the same Latin root.
PROPORTION comes from “pro” (for) + “portio” (share) = “for its share”
SIMPLIFY comes from the Latin “simplex” (simple) + “facere” (to make) = “to make easier to do.” It means to reduce something to only the necessary parts.
REDUCE comes from “re” (back or again) + “duc” (to lead)
AREA comes from “area,” and in math it means the number of square units needed to cover a surface.
DIAGONAL comes from “dia” (across, pass through) + “gonus” (angle)
PRIME comes from “primus” (first)
RATIO comes from “ratio” (reason, calculation, relation) and in math means the comparison of one number to another.
ARITHMETIC comes from the Latin “arithmetica” (the counting art)
TRIANGLE comes from “tri” (three) + “gonus” (angle)
EQUILATERAL comes from “equi” (equal) + “latus” (sides) and in math can describe a triangle that has sides that are the same length