Where does “rational number” come from?
rational number (English) comes from English rational, from French rationalité, from French rationnel, from Latin rationalis, from Latin ratiō, from Latin -tiō, from Latin dissertātiō, from Latin dissertus — small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble.
rational number (English): A number that can be expressed as the ratio of two integers
Definitions
- A number that can be expressed as the ratio of two integers
Ancestry of “rational number”, step by step
rational number traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English rational
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | rational | Capable of reasoning; Logically sound; not... |
| 2 | French | rationalité | rationality |
| 3 | French | rationnel | rational |
| 4 | Latin | rationalis | accounts; rational, reasonable, of or possessing... |
| 5 | Latin | ratiō | reason, reasoning, explanation, ground, motive, rationality, rationale, purpose |
| 6 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 7 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 8 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 9 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 10 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 11 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 12 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 13 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |
via English number
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | number | An abstract entity used to describe quantity; A... |
| 2 | English | numb | Physically unable to feel, not having the power... |
| 3 | English | nim | To take or seize; To filch, steal; To walk with... |
| 4 | Middle English | nimen | to take |
| 5 | Old English | niman | to take, seize |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | neman | to take |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | nemaną | to take |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | nem- | to distribute; to give, to take |