different between mathematics vs innumeracy

English

Alternative forms

• mathematicks (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French mathematique, from Latin math?matica (“mathematics”), from Ancient Greek ??????????? (math?matikós, “on the matter of that which is learned”), from ?????? (máth?ma, “knowledge, study, learning”). Displaced native Old English r?mcræft.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mæ?(?)?mæt?ks/

Noun

mathematics (uncountable)

1. An abstract representational system used in the study of numbers, shapes, structure, change and the relationships between these concepts.
   • 1992 March 2, Richard Preston, The New Yorker, "The Mountains of Pi":

     Looking at the Leibniz series, you feel the independence of mathematics from human culture. Surely, on any world that knows pi the Leibniz series will also be known... Nilakantha, an astronomer, grammarian, and mathematician who lived on the Kerala coast of India, described the formula in Sanskrit poetry around the year 1500.

   • 2002, Ian Stewart, Does God Play Dice?: The New Mathematics of Chaos, page 38

     The answer is 'yes', and the mathematics needed is the theory of probability and its applied cousin, statistics.

2. A person's ability to count, calculate, and use different systems of mathematics at differing levels.

   My mathematics is always improving.

Usage notes

• Mathematics was previously seen as a plural, but this usage is obsolete.
  • "… Artificers, to whom the Practical Mathematics are of great and immediate U?e." A System of Practical Mathematics - John Potter, 1753
  • "Mathematics are based on arithmatic^[sic], algebra and geometry, and are either pure or mixed." - The teacher's assistant in the "Course of mathematics adapted to the method of instruction in the American colleges - Jeremiah Day, 1836
  • "Now the mathematics are peculiarly well adapted for this purpose, … " - Library of Useful Knowledge - Mathematics - Baldwin and Cradock, London, 1836
  • "Mathematics are also distinguished into Theoretical, or Speculative, and Practical, …" A new and easy Introduction to the Mathematics - Ira Wanzer, 1831

Synonyms

• (ability to use mathematics): numeracy
• abbreviation: maths (UK, Australia), math (US, Canada)
• See also Thesaurus:mathematics

Derived terms

Related terms

• mathematical
• mathematically
• mathematician

Descendants

• ? Welsh: mathemateg

Translations

See also

• mathematics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Definitions of mathematics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• polymath

Further reading

• PlanetMath.Org Encyclopedia
• Mathematics using gifs
• Mathworld Encyclopedia

English

Etymology

From in- +? numeracy; coined by Douglas Hofstadter and popularized by mathematician John Allen Paulos in his 1989 book Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences.

Noun

innumeracy (countable and uncountable, plural innumeracies)

1. An ignorance of mathematics, or an inability to manipulate numbers

   The man suffered from innumeracy stemming from a brain injury, and depended on his wife for all financial matters, no matter how trivial.

Antonyms

• numeracy

See also

• dyscalculia
• illiteracy