How to spell mathematics

hear itmath·e·mat·ics/,mæθə'mætɪks/nounAcademic

What it means: The science of quantity, shape, and arrangement.

In a sentence: Mathematics is my favorite subject at school.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as mathematiks or mathematic.

Same family: mathematician, mathematical, mathematically, arithmetic, geometry. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Mathematics” comes from the Greek word “mathēmatika,” related to “manthanein,” meaning “to learn.” The plural-looking ending “-ics” makes it sound like many things, but in modern English it is usually treated as a singular subject, like “physics.”

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

Try spelling it

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