Pascal's triangle

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. a triangular arrangement of the binomial coefficients of the expansion (x +y ) n for positive integral values of n.

---

Pascal's triangle British  

noun

1. a triangle consisting of rows of numbers; the apex is 1 and each row starts and ends with 1, other numbers being obtained by adding together the two numbers on either side in the row above: used to calculate probabilities

---

Etymology

Origin of Pascal's triangle

Named after Pascal

Example Sentences

Like so much of this collection, the pyramid goes back to Pascal’s triangle.

From Washington Post

Given his obsession with the binomial theorem, we based the code we created for him on Pascal’s triangle.

From Scientific American

We keep calling this pattern “Pascal’s triangle,” but who is that?

From Scientific American

Which meant that soon after publishing his 1653 book on the subject, “Pascal’s triangle” was born!

From Scientific American

And not only is it useful, if you look closely enough, you’ll also discover that Pascal’s triangle contains a bunch of amazing patterns—including, kind of strangely, the famous Fibonacci sequence.

From Scientific American