The word term is from the Latin terminus which literally means "boundary line, limit", from the Proto-Indo-European root *ter- "peg, post, boundary".
In elementary mathematics, a term is either a single number or variable, or the product of several numbers and/or variables separated from another term by a + or - sign in an overall expression. For example, in
- 3 + 4x + 5yzw
3, 4x, and 5yzw are all terms. a
In the context of polynomials, sometimes term is used of a monomial with a coefficient: to 'collect like terms' in a polynomial is the basic operation of making it a linear combination of distinct monomials.
A series is often represented as the sum of a sequence of terms.
In general mathematical use, however, the word "term" is not limited to additive terms. Individual factors in an expression representing a product would be multiplicative terms. Indeed, individual elements of any mathematical expression may be referred to as terms.
Terms in first order logic constitute another use of the word.
Specific names for terms
- addition and subtraction
-
- Addend
- Subtrahend and minuend are the first and second terms, respectively, in subtraction
- multiplication
- Factor. In a multiplication of two factors, the first is called the multiplicand and the second is called the multiplier.
- divisions and fractions
- The top of a division is called the numerator (or dividend), and the bottom is called the denominator (or divisor).
References
- Schwartzman, Steven (1994). The words of mathematics: An etymological dictionary of mathematical terms used in English. The Mathematical Association of America. pp. 219. ISBN 0-88385-511-9.
See also
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