mathematical

adjective

math·e·mat·i·cal ˌmath-ˈma-ti-kəl

ˌma-thə-

variants or less commonly mathematic

ˌmath-ˈma-tik

ˌma-thə-

Synonyms of mathematical next

: of, relating to, or according with mathematics

: rigorously exact : precise

: certain

: possible but highly improbable

only a mathematical chance

mathematically

ˌmath-ˈma-ti-k(ə-)lē

ˌma-thə-

adverb

Examples of mathematical in a Sentence

They recorded the changes with mathematical precision. The team has only a mathematical chance of making the play-offs.

Recent Examples on the Web Scientists developed a mathematical model to predict what this melting might look like under different future climate scenarios. —

Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Oct. 2023 Researchers with the Complexity Science Hub, an organization based in Vienna, Austria, that uses mathematical models to understand the dynamics of complex systems, found plenty of examples of societies that made it through famines, cold snaps, and other forms of environmental stress. —

WIRED, 21 Oct. 2023 In Heisenberg’s mathematical language, the state of the particles doesn’t change. —

Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 19 Oct. 2023 The mathematical discussion over how best to implement it, however, is surprisingly subtle. —

Jack Murtagh, Scientific American, 2 Nov. 2023 The Power of Generalization Like many mathematical ideas, reciprocity has been influential because it can be generalized. —

Quanta Magazine, 1 Nov. 2023 Many of the most promising submissions are built on lattices, a mathematical concept involving grids of points in various repeating shapes, like squares or hexagons, but projected into dimensions far beyond what humans can visualize. —

Zach Montague, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2023 The first person to harness this power was Georg Cantor, the founder of the mathematical subfield of set theory. —

WIRED, 29 Oct. 2023 These signals are processed by different algorithms or sets of mathematical procedures to obtain the blood pressure values. —

Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mathematical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English mathematicalle, from Latin mathematicus, from Greek mathēmatikos, from mathēmat-, mathēma learning, mathematics, from manthanein to learn; probably akin to Goth mundon to pay attention

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of mathematical was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century