Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Jump To:
  • Von Neumann
    Von Neumann
    noun
    John, 1903–57, U.S. mathematician, born in Hungary.
  • von Neumann
    von Neumann
    noun
    John. 1903–57, US mathematician, born in Hungary. He formulated game theory and contributed to the development of the atomic bomb and to the development of the stored-program computer ( von Neumann machine )

Von Neumann

American  
[von noi-mahn, -muhn] / vɒn ˈnɔɪ mɑn, -mən /

noun

  1. John, 1903–57, U.S. mathematician, born in Hungary.


von Neumann British  
/ fɒn, vɒn ˈnjuːmən /

noun

  1. John. 1903–57, US mathematician, born in Hungary. He formulated game theory and contributed to the development of the atomic bomb and to the development of the stored-program computer ( von Neumann machine )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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:

Jones’s main focus continued to be Von Neumann algebras and their connections to other fields.

From Nature Sep. 28, 2020

Von Neumann, I learned, wasn’t just a poker player.

From New York Times Jun. 19, 2020

Horgan: I read that John Von Neumann suggested you should use the word "entropy" as a measure of information because that no one understands entropy and so you can win arguments about your theory.

From Scientific American Jul. 30, 2017

When people talk about human genius, John Von Neumann often pops up.

From Slate Jul. 27, 2017

Through his boss at Birkbeck, JD Bernal, he got a six-month Rockefeller Scholarship to Princeton which he spent time talking to computer pioneer John Von Neumann.

From BBC Apr. 1, 2016

It was back in 1958 that the concept of "the singularity" was attributed posthumously to Hungarian-born mathematician John von Neumann.

From BBC Oct. 9, 2025

Game theory was first presented in "The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior," published in 1944 by mathematicians and economists Oskar Morgenstern and John von Neumann.

From Science Daily Dec. 6, 2024

The novel's final section, a thrilling human-versus-machine matchup, points to what von Neumann had wrought—and reflects the warnings of Labatut's Wigner.

From Scientific American Oct. 1, 2023

His latest is about John von Neumann, the Hungarian polymath whose work on the Manhattan Project led to breakthroughs in quantum physics that are still unfolding today.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 28, 2023

As argued by John von Neumann in 1939, the number of such devices could increase exponentially with time if they self-replicate, a quality enabled by 3D printing and AI technologies.

From Salon Oct. 9, 2022

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training