Dictionary

arithmetician en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /əˌɹɪθməˈtɪʃ(ə)n/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle French arithmeticien; equivalent to arithmetic + -ian.

Meanings

1. (archaic) One with expertise in arithmetic; a mathematician.
   • [F]or certes, ſayes he, / I haue already choſen my officer, and what was he? / Forſooth, a great Arithmeticion, [...] c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 1:
   • I haue read the truest computer of Times, and the best Arithmetician that euer breathed, and he reduceth thy dayes into a short number: The daies of Man are threescore and ten. 1613, Richard Brathwait, The Yong Mans Gleanings, page 1:
   • You talk of figures, now; you have only to say to Stelling, ‘I want my son to be a thorough arithmetician,’ and you may leave the rest to him. 1860, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “Mr Riley Gives His Advice Concerning a School for Tom”, in The Mill on the Floss […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I (Boy and Girl), page 33:
   • But I'll tell you one thing; it's a Question that would puzzle an Arithmetician, if you ſhould ask him, whether the Bible ſaves more Souls in Weſtminſter-Abby, or damns more in Weſtminſter-Hall: […] 1695, [William] Congreve, Love for Love: A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act IV, scene vi, page 59:
   • Bonoro. What said he? / Tycho. That he would say but three words and follow me. I heard him say a hundred, and sing a thousand: Lovers are bad arithmeticians. 1774, David Garrick, A Christmas Tale, Part 2, Scene 1, page 13:

Forms

Translations (4)

pl arytmetyk (one with expertise in arithmetic) · pt aritmético (one with expertise in arithmetic) · hy թվաբան (one with expertise in arithmetic) · cy rhifyddwr (one with expertise in arithmetic)