Which four basic operations are used in arithmetic?

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The four primary operations used in arithmetic are:

  • Addition: Combining one or more addends to produce a sum.1
  • Subtraction: Removing a subtrahend from a minuend to find the difference.1
  • Multiplication: Repeatedly adding a multiplicand to itself based on a multiplier to produce a product.1
  • Division: Splitting a dividend by a divisor to determine a quotient, which may result in a remainder.1

While these four operations are the most fundamental, arithmetic also encompasses broader processes such as raising numbers to powers and the extraction of roots.2