No, the title does not come from hornybitches.com, nor does it mean something related to sex. At least in Latin: it means With praise. There is a vast amount of Latin words and quotes passed in the English language. And many of them in mathematical terminology.  

Let’s see examples of Latin words/phrases used in maths or generally in articles (first column the singular, second the Latin plural): 

abscissa->abscissae (fem.) [See the earliest known use in Maths]

alumna->alumnae (fem.)

alumnus->alumni (mask.)

appendix->appendices

calculus->calculi [See the earliest known use in Maths]

datum->data

erratum->errata

frustum->frusta [See the earliest known use in Maths]

index->indices

matrix->matrices

maximum->maxima [See the earliest known use in Maths]

modulus->moduli [See the earliest known use in Maths]

vortex->vortices

Abbreviations (all taken from this site):

et al.: Abbreviation of et alia, meaning “and others”.

ibid.: Abbreviation of ibidem, meaning “in the same place”.

e.g.: Abbreviation of exempli gratia, meaning “for example”.

i.e.: Abbreviation of id est, literally, “that is”.

viz.: Abbreviation of videlicet, meaning “namely.”

cf.: Abbreviation of confer, meaning “compare”.

And now the tricky question: what should we use when dealing with Latin words? The Latin plural or (what it seems to be) the English one? Lacking a classical background I would certainly ask the experts’ view (or the ones who dare to have an opinion). Take your pick: either the Latin or the English plural sounds good: 'indexes' or 'indices', 'appendixes' or 'appendices'. A compilation of such dilemmas is soothingly scholastic. You can also see here for comparison.

 

Not amazed yet? Thought so.


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