mathematician
Americannoun
-
mathematicians
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of mathematician
First recorded in 1400–50, mathematician is from the late Middle English word mathematicion. See mathematics, -ian
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."
Vocabulary lists containing mathematician
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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 man widely considered the world’s pre-eminent mathematician still believes in the value of AI models.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
The Hindenburg Omen was developed by Jim Miekka, a mathematician and market analyst, back in 1995.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
Recent examples include OpenAI’s disproof of the unit distance conjecture, and the proof of Erdős’ problem 1196 by Liam Price, a 23-year-old amateur mathematician.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
Eventually, one ancient Greek surpassed Zeno in matters of the infinite: Archimedes, the eccentric mathematician of Syracuse.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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
"That question needs to be addressed, because it's completely false that we no longer need mathematicians."
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
Announcements over recent months that artificial intelligence models have cracked previously unsolvable problems are shaking to the core top-level mathematicians, who are now asking themselves: where do we come in?
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
“We ask them to stop testing advanced mathematical problems on proprietary models,” the top mathematicians wrote last week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
As mathematicians were uncovering the connection between zero and infinity, physicists began to encounter zeros in the natural world; zero crossed over from mathematics to physics.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
