Where does “softmax” come from?
softmax (English) comes from English soft, from Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte, from Proto-West Germanic samftō, from Proto-West Germanic -ō, from Proto-Germanic -ô, from Proto-Indo-European -ō — Derives nouns from roots.
softmax (English): A generalization of the logistic function that "squashes" a K-dimensional vector \mathbf{z} of arbitrary real values to a K-dimensional vector \sigma(\mathbf{z}) of real values in the range (0, 1)
Definitions
- A generalization of the logistic function that "squashes" a K-dimensional vector \mathbf{z} of arbitrary real values to a K-dimensional vector \sigma(\mathbf{z}) of real values in the range (0, 1)
Ancestry of “softmax”, step by step
softmax traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English soft
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | soft | Easily giving way under pressure; Smooth and... |
| 2 | Middle English | softe | soft |
| 3 | Old English | sōfte | softly |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | samftō | softly, gently |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -ō | Creates adverbs from adjectives; Creates agent... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -ô | -ly; Forms agent nouns, often from the zero-grade... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ō | Derives nouns from roots |
via English Max
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Max | — |
| 2 | English | maximum | The highest limit; The greatest value of a set or... |
| 3 | Latin | Maximus | the greatest |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | *magisVmos | — |