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When did the word arithmetic first appear in English?
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arithmetic
A page from a first-grade workbook typical of “new math” might state: “Draw connecting lines from triangles in the first set to triangles in the second set. Are the two sets equivalent in number?”
The word "arithmetic" first appeared in English during the 15th century.1
It is derived from the Middle English term arsmetrik, which traces its roots back to the Anglo-French arismatike, the Latin arithmetica, and ultimately the Greek arithmētikē, meaning "to count" or "number". In the context of mathematics, arithmetic is defined as the branch dealing with the properties and manipulation of numbers through operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.1