arithmetic

noun

arith·​me·​tic ə-ˈrith-mə-ˌtik 

1

a

: a branch of mathematics that deals usually with the nonnegative real numbers including sometimes the transfinite cardinals and with the application of the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to them

b

: a treatise on arithmetic

2

: computation, calculation

arithmetic

ˌer-ith-ˈme-tik 

ˌa-rith-

adjective

or arithmetical

ˌer-ith-ˈme-ti-kəl 

ˌa-rith-

arithmetically

ˌer-ith-ˈme-ti-k(ə-)lē 

ˌa-rith-

adverb

arithmetician

ə-ˌrith-mə-ˈti-shən 

noun

Synonyms

• calculation
• calculus
• ciphering
• computation
• figures
• figuring
• math
• mathematics
• number crunching
• numbers
• reckoning

Examples of arithmetic in a Sentence

a software program that will do the arithmetic for you

I haven't actually done the arithmetic yet, but I suspect we're losing money on the deal.

Recent Examples on the Web

Eleven volunteers who were unfamiliar to the dogs were put through a stress test involving public speaking and arithmetic while samples of their underarm sweat were gathered on pieces of cloth. —Sara Novak, Scientific American, 25 July 2024

Language models have learned to do surprising things that even those who trained them did not anticipate, including unscrambling words, performing eight-digit arithmetic, and solving mathematical word problems. —Josh A. Goldstein, Foreign Affairs, 7 Apr. 2023

To see why this handout is outrageous (like so many before it), a little tax arithmetic is unavoidable. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 8 Aug. 2024

Others, including Goldman Sachs economists 24 years ago, have used slightly different arithmetic to make the same basic point: The unemployment rate pretty much never makes big upward moves in non-recessionary situations. —Courtenay Brown, Axios, 7 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English arsmetrik, from Anglo-French arismatike, from Latin arithmetica, from Greek arithmētikē, from feminine of arithmētikos arithmetical, from arithmein to count, from arithmos number; akin to Old English rīm number, and perhaps to Greek arariskein to fit

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing arithmetic

• arithmetic average
• arithmetic mean
• arithmetic progression
• arithmetic scale
• modular arithmetic

Kids Definition

arithmetic

noun

arith·​me·​tic ə-ˈrith-mə-ˌtik 

1

: a branch of mathematics that deals with real numbers and their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division

2

: an act or method of computing

arithmetic

ˌar-ith-ˈmet-ik 

adjective

or arithmetical

-ˈmet-i-kəl 

arithmetically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

arithmetician

ə-ˌrith-mə-ˈtish-ən 

noun