During the Islamic Golden Age, which scholarly consensus places between the 8th and 13th centuries, immense scientific progress was achieved by Muslim scientists and scholars in the Arab World, especially in the fields of mathematics, chemistry and physics.
The scientific discoveries and theories made during this era of enlightenment acted as the basis of the modern sciences as we know them today.
Traces of that era are still present in modern life in the form of language, especially in the English language in which many scientific terms and random generic words are derived from Arabic.
These are nine words that show how much of modern mathematics is originally Arabic.
1. Algebra – Al-Gabr
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The Arabic word “al-Jabr,” which literally means completing broken parts, is the origin of the English word.
The Arabic term was coined by Muslim scholar and mathematician Mohammed Ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi in his book, which earned him the title of the founder of algebra.
2. Algorithm – Al-Khwarizmi
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The English term is actually a variation of Khawarizmi’s name itself, as its origin is the word “algorithmi” which is the Latin version of “Al-Khawarizmi”, the name of the famous Muslim mathematician.
3. Cipher – Sifr
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Perhaps one of the most significant contributions of Khawarizmi to mathematics was that he was the one who invented the digit zero.
The Arabic word for zero “siphr” is the origin of the English word cipher, which although now is used mostly to refer to cryptography, was used to mean zero until the 19th century.
4. Average – A’awareya
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The Arabic word “a’awareya” which means the damaged goods or products is the origin of the Old French word avarie which then became the English word average.
The word originally referred to the financial liability from goods damaged at sea, which led to the meaning of calculating the mean in the 18th century.
5. Azimuth – Al-Samt
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The Arabic word “al-samt” which means direction or way is the origin of the Old French word azimut which then became the English word for the horizontal angle that is used in a variety of fields including astronomy and engineering.
6. Cube – Ka’ab
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The Arabic word “ka’ab” which means ankle or cube is the origin of the Latin word “cubus” which then became the English word cube.
7. Nadir – Nazeer
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The Arabic word “nazeer” which means the lowest point is the origin of the English word that’s used in astronomy to refer to the point on a celestial sphere that is directly below the observer.
8. Zenith – Samt Al-Ra’as
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The Arabic word “samt al-ra’as” which literally means the path or way above the head is the origin for the English word that is used in astronomy to refer to the point on a celestial sphere or in the sky that is directly above the observer.
9. Degree – Daraja
Photo source: Wikimedia Commons
The Arabic word “daraja” which literally means degree or grade is the origin of the English word with the same meaning.
