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The word term is from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 terminus which literally means "boundary line, limit", from the Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European may refer to:*Proto-Indo-European language, the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages.*Proto-Indo-Europeans, the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language....
 root "peg, post, boundary".

In elementary mathematics
Elementary mathematics

Elementary mathematics consists of mathematics topics frequently taught at the primary and secondary school levels. The most basic are arithmetic and geometry....
, a term is either a single number or variable, or the product of several numbers and/or variables separated from another term by a + or - sign in an overall expression. For example, in

3 + 4x + 5yzw


3, 4x, and 5yzw are all terms.

In the context of polynomial
Polynomial

In mathematics, a polynomial is an expression constructed from variables and constants, using the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and constant non-negative whole number exponents....
s, sometimes term is used of a monomial
Monomial

In mathematics, the word monomial means two different things in the context of polynomials:*The first meaning is a product of powers of variables, or formally any value obtained from 1 by finitely many multiplications by a variable....
 with a coefficient
Coefficient

In mathematics, a coefficient is a constant multiplication factor of a certain object. For example, in the expression 9x2, the coefficient of x2 is 9....
: to 'collect like terms' in a polynomial is the basic operation
Operation (mathematics)

In its simplest meaning in mathematics and logic, an operation is an action or procedure which produces a new value from one or more input values....
 of making it a linear combination
Linear combination

In mathematics, linear combinations are a concept central to linear algebra and related fields of mathematics.Most of this article deals with linear combinations in the context of a vector space over a field , with some generalisations given at the end of the article....
 of distinct
Distinct

Two or more things are distinct if no two of them are the same thing. In mathematics, two things are called distinct if they are not equality ....
 monomials.

A series
Series (mathematics)

In mathematics, given an infinite set sequence of numbers , a series is informally the result of adding all those terms together: . These can be written more compactly using the summation symbol ?....
 is often represented as the sum of a sequence
Sequence

In mathematics, a sequence is an ordered list of objects . Like a Set , it contains Element , and the number of terms is called the length of the sequence....
 of terms.

In general mathematical use, however, the word "term" is not limited to additive terms. Individual factors in an expression representing a product would be multiplicative term
Multiplication

Multiplication is the Operation of scaling one number by another. It is one of the four basic operations in elementary arithmetic .Multiplication is defined for Natural number in terms of repeated addition; for example, 4 multiplied by 3 can be calculated by adding 3 copies of 4 together:...
s.






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The word term is from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 terminus which literally means "boundary line, limit", from the Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European may refer to:*Proto-Indo-European language, the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages.*Proto-Indo-Europeans, the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language....
 root "peg, post, boundary".

In elementary mathematics
Elementary mathematics

Elementary mathematics consists of mathematics topics frequently taught at the primary and secondary school levels. The most basic are arithmetic and geometry....
, a term is either a single number or variable, or the product of several numbers and/or variables separated from another term by a + or - sign in an overall expression. For example, in

3 + 4x + 5yzw


3, 4x, and 5yzw are all terms.

In the context of polynomial
Polynomial

In mathematics, a polynomial is an expression constructed from variables and constants, using the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and constant non-negative whole number exponents....
s, sometimes term is used of a monomial
Monomial

In mathematics, the word monomial means two different things in the context of polynomials:*The first meaning is a product of powers of variables, or formally any value obtained from 1 by finitely many multiplications by a variable....
 with a coefficient
Coefficient

In mathematics, a coefficient is a constant multiplication factor of a certain object. For example, in the expression 9x2, the coefficient of x2 is 9....
: to 'collect like terms' in a polynomial is the basic operation
Operation (mathematics)

In its simplest meaning in mathematics and logic, an operation is an action or procedure which produces a new value from one or more input values....
 of making it a linear combination
Linear combination

In mathematics, linear combinations are a concept central to linear algebra and related fields of mathematics.Most of this article deals with linear combinations in the context of a vector space over a field , with some generalisations given at the end of the article....
 of distinct
Distinct

Two or more things are distinct if no two of them are the same thing. In mathematics, two things are called distinct if they are not equality ....
 monomials.

A series
Series (mathematics)

In mathematics, given an infinite set sequence of numbers , a series is informally the result of adding all those terms together: . These can be written more compactly using the summation symbol ?....
 is often represented as the sum of a sequence
Sequence

In mathematics, a sequence is an ordered list of objects . Like a Set , it contains Element , and the number of terms is called the length of the sequence....
 of terms.

In general mathematical use, however, the word "term" is not limited to additive terms. Individual factors in an expression representing a product would be multiplicative term
Multiplication

Multiplication is the Operation of scaling one number by another. It is one of the four basic operations in elementary arithmetic .Multiplication is defined for Natural number in terms of repeated addition; for example, 4 multiplied by 3 can be calculated by adding 3 copies of 4 together:...
s. Indeed, individual elements of any mathematical expression may be referred to as terms.

Terms in first order logic constitute another use of the word.

Specific names for terms

addition and subtraction:
  • Addend
  • Subtrahend and minuend are the first and second terms, respectively, in subtraction
multiplication: Factor
Factor

A factor, a Latin word meaning 'who/which acts' may refer to:* Factor , a person who acts for another, notably a mercantile and/or colonial agent...
. In a multiplication of two factors, the first is called the multiplicand and the second is called the multiplier. divisions and fractions: The top of a division is called the numerator
Numerator

Numerator may refer to:* A numeral used to indicate a count, particularly of the equal parts in a fraction . A numerator is the number on top of the fraction....
 (or dividend
Numerator

Numerator may refer to:* A numeral used to indicate a count, particularly of the equal parts in a fraction . A numerator is the number on top of the fraction....
), and the bottom is called the denominator (or divisor
Divisor

In mathematics, a divisor of an integer n, also called a factor of n, is an integer which evenly divides n without leaving a remainder....
).

See also

  • Divisor
    Divisor

    In mathematics, a divisor of an integer n, also called a factor of n, is an integer which evenly divides n without leaving a remainder....
  • Expression
    Expression (mathematics)

    In mathematics, the word expression is a term for any well-formed formula combination of mathematical symbols. For example,is an expression, while...
  • Like and unlike terms
    Like and unlike terms

    In algebra, like terms are two or more Term that have the same Variable#Mathematicss and Exponentiations. The coefficients do not matter. Unlike terms are two or more Term that are not like terms, i.e....