mathematician

American  

[math-uh-muh-tish-uhn] / ˌmæθ ə məˈtɪʃ ən /

noun

• mathematicians
  plural

1. an expert or specialist in mathematics.

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mathematician British  

/ ˌmæθəməˈtɪʃən, ˌmæθmə- /

noun

1. an expert or specialist in mathematics

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonmathematician
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mathematicians
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of mathematician

First recorded in 1400–50, mathematician is from the late Middle English word mathematicion. See mathematics, -ian

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Explanation

Use the noun mathematician when you talk about someone who is highly educated in — and good at — math. Your math teacher might be a great mathematician who's also gifted at explaining math to students. You can call a person who does math for a living a mathematician, like a math professor or someone who works in statistics or as an actuary. Actually, anyone who has great skill at mathematics is also a mathematician, even if they work as a chef or a taxi driver. The word mathematician is rooted in the Greek mathematikos, which means "relating to mathematics, or scientific," or simply "disposed to learn."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mathematician mathematicians

Named after Lord Kelvin, the mathematician who discovered them in the late 19th century, these waves don’t roll and crash along the shore like a tsunami or hurricane.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026

Hart is still suspicious of Fry, however, after realising the mathematician had orchestrated events after the crypt to make Myha'la look less innocent.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

The claim arrived hours after Tristan Buckmaster, a mathematician at New York University, and Levent Alpoge, who works at OpenAI competitor Anthropic, released their own AI-assisted work on three related equations.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Delangue was already working in product and marketing for startups in New York when he and Chaumond—a mathematician who had worked for startups and the French government—teamed up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Sometime between 1534 and 1549 Jean Taisnier, a musician and mathematician, remarked that Aristotle was sometimes mistaken; he was challenged by a representative of the pope to produce a convincing example of Aristotle being wrong.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Tell that to a generation of mathematicians and computer engineers, who may find themselves threatened.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

Mallat also noted mathematicians are needed for teaching, although the rapid advancement of AI will impact this area too.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

This major American patron of mathematics announced last week a $15-million programme co-funded by OpenAI and Anthropic to support mathematicians in dealing with AI.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

Even though mathematicians had suspected this almost never happens for typical problems, they had never fully proven it—until Urschel did.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Anicius Boethius was a powerful courtier who was among the finest medieval Western mathematicians, which makes him worth noting.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

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