Origin of Word
The adjective quadratic comes from the Latin word quadrātum (“square”). A term like x2 is called a square in algebra because it is the area of a square with side x.
In general, a prefix quadr(i)- indicates the number 4. Examples are quadrilateral and quadrant. Quadratum is the Latin word for square because a square has four sides.
Read more about this topic: Quadratic Function
Famous quotes containing the words origin and/or word:
“In the woods in a winter afternoon one will see as readily the origin of the stained glass window, with which Gothic cathedrals are adorned, in the colors of the western sky seen through the bare and crossing branches of the forest.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Your home is regarded as a model home, your life as a model life. But all this splendor, and you along with it ... it’s just as though it were built upon a shifting quagmire. A moment may come, a word can be spoken, and both you and all this splendor will collapse.”
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)