Definition
Relating to or denoting an early form of algebra using symbolic notation instead of words, used in medieval mathematics.
Etymology
From Arabic al-jabr or possibly from Italian cosa meaning 'thing.' Used in the 16th-17th centuries to describe algebraic methods that represented unknown quantities as 'things' or symbols.
Kelly Says
When algebra was new to Europe, mathematicians called unknowns 'cossic quantities'—and this Arabic-origin word shows how the very foundations of modern math came through the Islamic world and Italy.
Translations
CACatalà
Cosette
koh-ze-tet
CSČeština
cossico
koh-see-koh
DADansk
cossico
koh-see-koh
DEDeutsch
cossisch
koh-see-sh
ELΕλληνικά
κοσσικ
kos-sik
ESEspañol
cosico
koh-see-koh
FISuomi
cossico
koh-see-koh
FRFrançais
cossico
koh-see-koh
HUMagyar
cossico
koh-see-koh
IDBahasa Indonesia
cossico
koh-see-koh
ITItaliano
cossico
koh-see-koh
MSBahasa Melayu
cossico
koh-see-koh
NLNederlands
cossico
koh-see-koh
NONorsk
cossico
koh-see-koh
PLPolski
cossico
koh-see-koh
PTPortuguês
cossico
koh-see-koh
RORomână
cossico
koh-see-koh
SVSvenska
cossico
koh-see-koh
SWKiswahili
cossico
koh-see-koh
TRTürkçe
cossico
koh-see-koh
UKУкраїнська
косик
ko-sik
VITiếng Việt
cossico
koh-see-koh