mathematician
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- nonmathematician noun
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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Katherine Johnson (1918–2020) Tribute List
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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.
Sharp, who worked at the Greenwich Royal Observatory and has a crater on the moon named after him, was also a mathematician who calculated pi to 72 decimal places.
From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026
We ran our findings and methodology by Phil Neff, a researcher at the University of Washington Center for Human Rights and Joseph Gunther, a mathematician who researches immigration-related datasets and former ICE officials.
From Salon • Mar. 24, 2026
Novelist Jane Austen, artist J. M. W. Turner and mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing, are also due to be phased out on the £10, £20 and £50 banknotes respectively as part of a redesign.
From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026
Irish mathematician and physicist William Rowan Hamilton, born 220 years ago, is often remembered for an unusual act of inspiration.
From Science Daily • Mar. 10, 2026
Just as the astrolabe embodies the medieval application of mathematics to the heavens, the sector embodies the new technical skills of the mathematician applying himself to the world.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions 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.
