calculus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin calculus (“a pebble or stone used for counting”), diminutive of calx (“limestone”) + -ulus.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkælkjʊləs/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈkælkjələs/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

calculus (countable and uncountable, plural calculi or calculuses)

  1. (dated, countable) Calculation; computation.
  2. (countable, mathematics) Any formal system in which symbolic expressions are manipulated according to fixed rules.
    lambda calculus
    predicate calculus
  3. (uncountable, often definite, the calculus) Differential calculus and integral calculus considered as a single subject; analysis.
  4. (countable, medicine) A stony concretion that forms in a bodily organ.
    renal calculus ( = kidney stone)
  5. (uncountable, dentistry) Deposits of calcium phosphate salts on teeth.
  6. (countable) A decision-making method, especially one appropriate for a specialised realm.
    • 2008 December 16, “Cameron calls for bankers’ ‘day of reckoning’”, in Financial Times:
      The Tory leader refused to state how many financiers he thought should end up in jail, saying: “There is not some simple calculus."

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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See also

Latin

Etymology

Diminutive from calx (“limestone, game counter”) +‎ -ulus.

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈkal.ku.lus/, [ˈkaɫ.kʊ.ɫʊs]

Noun

calculus m (genitive calculī); second declension

  1. diminutive of calx
  2. pebble, stone
  3. reckoning, calculating
  4. a piece in the latrunculi game

Inflection

Second declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative calculus calculī
genitive calculī calculōrum
dative calculō calculīs
accusative calculum calculōs
ablative calculō calculīs
vocative calcule calculī

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  • calculus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • calculus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • calculus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
  • calculus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
  • Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to go through accounts, make a valuation of a thing: ad calculos vocare aliquid (Amic. 16. 58)
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