From Greek 'arithmētikḗ' (art of counting), garbled as 'arsmetrike' in Middle English, then respelled to match its Greek original.
The branch of mathematics dealing with the properties and manipulation of numbers, especially addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
From Old French 'arismetique,' from Latin 'arithmētica,' from Greek 'arithmētikḗ (tékhnē)' — literally 'the (art) of counting,' from 'arithmeîn' (to count, to reckon), from 'arithmós' (number). The Greek 'arithmós' derives from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-i-dʰ-mo- (a counting), from *h₂er- (to fit together). The word's spelling was altered in the sixteenth century to match the Latin and Greek originals, replacing the earlier French-influenced 'arsmetrike.' Key roots: arithmós (Ancient Greek: "number"), arithmeîn (Ancient Greek: "to count, to reckon"), *h₂er- (Proto-Indo-European: "to fit together, to
The word 'arithmetic' was for centuries confused with 'ars metrica' (the art of measurement) in medieval Latin, producing the garbled Middle English forms 'arsmetrike' and 'ars-metrik.' The respelling to 'arithmetic' in the sixteenth century was a deliberate restoration of the Greek original — a humanist correction of a medieval misunderstanding. The older, garbled form survives in no modern usage, but it reveals how medieval scholars, working from imperfect