What does algorism mean?
Algorism is the practice of arithmetic using the Hindu-Arabic numerals — the digits 0 through 9 arranged in a positional decimal system. The term entered English through medieval Latin and French and was long used to describe the then-revolutionary skill of computing on paper with these numerals rather than counting on an abacus or manipulating Roman numerals. In its broader, older sense, algorism can refer to any systematic procedure for carrying out calculations, a meaning that has since been absorbed by the modern word 'algorithm.' Today algorism survives chiefly in historical and scholarly writing about mathematics, where it evokes the medieval transformation of European commerce and science. Its very name preserves the memory of the ninth-century Persian mathematician al-Khwārizmī, whose influential works on calculation gave the word — and eventually 'algorithm' — their origin.
nounThe decimal system of arithmetic using Hindu-Arabic numerals (0–9), especially as practiced in medieval Europe; more broadly, any step-by-step procedure for calculation.
- Arithmetic performed with Hindu-Arabic numerals, particularly the positional decimal system.
- Any systematic, step-by-step method of calculation (an older sense now largely covered by 'algorithm').
"Medieval merchants who mastered algorism could compute far faster than those still working with Roman numerals on an abacus."
"The new merchant guild required apprentices to learn algorism before they could keep the ledgers."
"In his treatise, he contrasted the old abacus reckoning with the newer art of algorism."
Rarely pluralized; the plural appears only in historical or scholarly contexts referring to multiple methods or systems of numeral computation.
"The manuscript compared several competing algorisms used by medieval reckoners."
Before there was 'algorithm,' there was 'algorism' — a word born from the name of a ninth-century Persian mathematician, al-Khwārizmī.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of algorism
Algorism derives from the name of the ninth-century Persian mathematician Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, whose Arabic treatises on calculation with Hindu-Arabic numerals were translated into Latin in the twelfth century. His name, Latinized in forms such as 'Algorismus,' passed into Old French as 'algorisme' and thence into English. The closely related words 'algorithm' and 'algebra' trace back to the same source: 'algorithm' is a later variant of the same root, while 'algebra' comes from the title of another of al-Khwārizmī's works.
How algorism is actually used
Algorism is now largely historical or academic in register, appearing mainly in histories of mathematics; in everyday modern usage 'algorithm' has almost entirely displaced it.
Easily confused with algorism
An algorithm is any finite step-by-step procedure for solving a problem, while algorism specifically refers to computation with Hindu-Arabic numerals or decimal arithmetic.