calculus
noun
Stephen H. Schneider
Did you know?
In Latin calculus meant “pebble.” Because the Romans used pebbles to do addition and subtraction on a counting board, the word became associated with computation. Other English derivatives include calculator and calculation. Calculus itself has been borrowed into English as a medical term that refers to masses of matter in the body such as kidney stones (a straightforward extension of the meaning “pebble”) and to refer to a system of mathematical computation.
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Examples of calculus in a Sentence
Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2024
Iran has promised to retaliate, but the calculus is tricky: The Iranians want to avoid igniting a full-fledged war that might drag in the United States and threaten the survival of Iran’s regime.
—Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2024
But whether to have a recount should not depend on the political calculus of any candidate.
—Daniel Borenstein, The Mercury News, 5 Apr. 2024
There are also differences in the share of 12th-graders who advance to calculus, with Asian Americans at 25%, white students 13%, Latinos 7% and Black students 5%, according to a February 2023 report by the Policy Analysis for California Education.
—Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024
Tuesday night was the first reminder of that cold-blooded calculus.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024
The calculus changes in places like public bathrooms, where there’s a reasonable and continuing expectation of privacy.
—Victoria Song, The Verge, 27 Mar. 2024
Projecting how a college QB will react to the NFL’s speed and complexity, in addition to the narrow hash marks and longer seasons, can be like projecting how a math student will transition from basic algebra to trigonometry and calculus.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Feb. 2024
That same year Simon Donaldson introduced differential geometry (which combines calculus and geometry) into the field with his work on four-dimensional manifolds.
—Kevin Hartnett, Quanta Magazine, 22 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'calculus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near calculus
Cite this Entry
“Calculus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calculus. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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calculus
noun
Medical Definition
calculus
noun
also calculuses
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