On the Etymology of Statistical and Mathematical Terms

TL;DR: Knowledge of the etymology of statistical and mathematical concepts helps in understanding them better.

Intro

Over the past few years, I have come into the habit of checking not only the definition of a new concept but also looking for its etymology. I have realized that knowing the etymology helps me understand the concept better. For example, let’s start by looking into the etymology of the word etymology itself:

Etymology. This concept finds its eventual origin in two Greek words: etymon (ἔτυμον) and lógos (λόγος). Etymon itself is derived from the adjective etymos (ἔτυμος), which means “true” in Greek. Thus, etymon refers to the true meaning or sense. The word logos has many meanings in Greek, including “word,” “ratio,” “proportion,” “reason,” and “discourse.” Thus, etymology refers to the true meaning of a word.

A Few Statistical and Mathematical Terms

Statistics

Statistics comes from the German Statistik, popularized in the 18th century by political scientist Gottfried Achenwall, originally referring to the study of state affairs. The root traces back through Latin status, meaning “state, condition” and ultimately to stare, meaning “to stand.” Its meaning broadened by 1829 to include any systematic collection and analysis of numerical data. The shorter form stats has been in use since 1961 (more info here).

Consistent and Consistency

These words eventually come from the Latin verb consistere, which has two parts: com-, meaning “together,” and sistere/stare, meaning “to place” or “to stand.” Thus, the meaning is “to stand together.” If data points in a dataset are consistent, they stand together rather than far apart, leading to low variance. That’s why statisticians often refer to data points as being consistent when the variance is low.

Robust

We often hear that a method is robust. The word robust eventually comes from the Latin word rōbur, meaning “oak tree.” Oak trees are known to be hard and strong, and thus the Latin adjective robustus means “oak-like, hard, and strong.” For example, when we hear “the median is robust to outliers compared to the arithmetic mean,” we can imagine that the median is as strong as an oak and can resist outliers.

Heteroscedasticity

Heteroscedasticity comes from two Greek words: hetero- (ἕτερος), meaning “other” or “different,” and scedastic (σκέδασις), meaning “scattering” or “dispersal.” When statisticians say a random variable is heteroscedastic, they mean that the variable has different variances at different levels of another variable in a multivariate distribution.

Arithmetic

This word comes from the Greek verb arithmein (ἀριθμεῖν), meaning “to count,” and ultimately from arithmos (ἀριθμός), meaning “number.”

Calculus

In Latin, calculus means “a pebble or stone used in doing arithmetic.” It is a diminutive of calx, meaning “limestone.” The word calculate shares this origin, derived from the Latin calculāre, meaning “to reckon.”

Logarithm

Logarithm comes from two Greek words: logos (λόγος) and arithmos (αριθμός), coined by John Napier in 1614. Literally, it means “ratio-number” since a logarithm expresses a number in terms of the power to which a base must be raised to produce it. In other words, it describes a number through its proportional relationship to a fixed base.

How I Search for Etymologies

My go-to website for checking word etymologies is the Collins Online Dictionary. For most English terms I’ve checked so far, I have been able to find their etymologies in the Collins dictionary. I’ve used this online dictionary so much that I’ve created a bookmarklet to streamline the extraction of etymologies. Below is the JavaScript code for the bookmarklet I use. It extracts etymology-related lines from a word entry page and displays them in a new browser tab. I also often check Wiktionary and other online dictionaries for etymologies.

javascript:(function()%7Bconst selector = 'div.content.etyms.etym.hom_subsec';const elements = document.querySelectorAll(selector);const newWindow = window.open();let word = document.URL.split('/').pop();word = word.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + word.slice(1);newWindow.document.title = 'Etymology of: ' + word;const newContent = newWindow.document.createElement('div');const boldWord = newWindow.document.createElement('h1');boldWord.style.fontWeight = 'bold';boldWord.textContent = word;newContent.appendChild(boldWord);elements.forEach(el => newContent.appendChild(el.cloneNode(true)));newWindow.document.body.appendChild(newContent);%7D)()%3B

How to use the bookmarklet in Chrome browser. To use the bookmarklet in Chrome, open the bookmarks manager with Ctrl + Shift + O. Next, press the kebab menu icon (i.e., ) on the top right of the bookmark manager and select “Add new bookmark.” Name it, paste the JavaScript code into the “URL” field, and save.

Conclusion

Understanding the etymology of new terms provides valuable insights into their meaning and usage. By tracing their roots, we can appreciate their original significance and develop a deeper comprehension of the concepts they represent.