mathematics

«mathematics» in Mova's school dictionary: The study of numbers, quantities, shapes, patterns and… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (mathematics, uncountable; short forms: maths in the UK, Australia, NZ, Ireland; math in the USA and Canada)

meaning for a pupil

1) The study of numbers, quantities, shapes, patterns and measurements, and the logic connecting them. tree →

2) The school subject that teaches this. tree →

3) The calculations or reasoning involved in something, as in «the mathematics of the problem». tree →

sense in the lessons

At school, mathematics includes arithmetic (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing), fractions, geometry, measures, statistics and algebra. In everyday life it is used for money, time, cooking and sport. In olympiads, it includes logic puzzles. Phrases: do mathematics, mathematics lesson, pure and applied mathematics.

examples

• Mathematics is my favourite subject. tree →
• We have mathematics every morning. tree →
• Mathematics helps us understand patterns in nature. tree →
• My sister wants to study mathematics at university. tree →
• The mathematics behind the game is quite simple. tree →
• Builders use mathematics to measure and plan. tree →
• Mathematics is the same in every language: 3 × 4 is always 12. tree →

note

Ends in «s» but is singular and uncountable: «Mathematics is fun», not «are». Short forms: «maths» (UK and Commonwealth), «math» (US, Canada). Spelling trap: math-E-matics.

In the corpora

• Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Dodgson, a mathematics teacher at Christ Church college in Oxford.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «mathematics» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.