logistic en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ləˈd͡ʒɪs.tɪk/ (UK)
- (US) audio
- /ləˈd͡ʒɪs.tɪk/ (US)
- /loʊˈd͡ʒɪs.tɪk/ (US)
- /lɒd͡ʒˈɪs.tɪk/ (UK)
Etymology
From French logistique, from Ancient Greek λογιστικός (logistikós, “practiced in arithmetic; rational”), from λογίζομαι (logízomai, “I reason, I calculate”), from λόγος (lógos, “reason, computation”), whence English logos, logic, logarithm, etc.; modern mathematical use influenced by related logarithmic. Sense of “logistic function” by Pierre François Verhulst (1845) in French, then borrowed into English. Verhulst does not explain his choice of naming, but he contrasts it with the logarithmic curve (also from λόγος (lógos)), and it is presumably by analogy with arithmetic and geometric (other divisions of mathematics), as his discussion of arithmetic growth and geometric growth precede his discussion of logistic growth. The term logistic and logistical also found occasional mathematical use in English prior to 1800, from the same Greek origin.
Meanings
- (not-comparable) Relating to symbolic logic.
- (not-comparable) Relating to the logistic function.
- (not-comparable, obsolete) Using sexagesimal fractions, especially in arithmetic or logarithms.
-
(not-comparable, obsolete) Relating to basic arithmetic.
If we compare the calculus of a triangle, by the logistic logarithms …
1730 July, J. P. Biester, “Decreasing Logarithms”, in The Present State of the Republick of Letters, volume 6, page 103:
- (not-comparable, obsolete) Skilled in calculating.
- (not-comparable, obsolete) Proportional.
Deriveds
log-logistic · logit · multilogistic · hyperlogistic · autologistic
Translations (9)
fr logistique (mathematics: relating to symbolic logic) · fr logistique (statistics: relating to the logistic function) · pl logistyczny (statistics: relating to the logistic function) · nl logistisch (mathematics: relating to symbolic logic) · nl logistisch (statistics: relating to the logistic function) · ar مَنْطِقِيّ رَمْزِيّ (mathematics: relating to symbolic logic) · pl logistyczny (mathematics: relating to symbolic logic) · ca logístic (mathematics: relating to symbolic logic) · ca logístic (statistics: relating to the logistic function)
wikipedia: Pierre François Verhulst · wikipedia: arithmetic growth · wikipedia: geometric growth