From Greek 'mathematika' (things that can be learned) — the Pythagoreans reserved it for arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music.
The abstract science of number, quantity, and space, studied either as pure mathematics or as applied to other disciplines.
From Latin "mathēmatica," from Greek "mathēmatikḗ (tékhnē)" (the mathematical art), from "máthēma" (that which is learned, knowledge, study), from "manthánein" (to learn), from PIE *mendʰ- (to learn, pay attention), also the source of Avestan "mazdā-" (memory, wisdom — as in Ahura Mazdā, "Lord of Wisdom") and Lithuanian "mandras" (alert, lively). In Greek, "máthēma" originally meant any subject of instruction — Plato used it broadly for all knowledge gained through study. The restriction to numerical and spatial reasoning began with the Pythagorean school, which regarded number as the foundation
The word 'mathematics' literally means 'the things that can be learned' — the Pythagoreans considered arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music to be the only four subjects that could be understood through pure reason alone. This quartet became the medieval 'quadrivium,' the advanced curriculum of European universities for a thousand years.
Words closest in meaning, ranked by similarity