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Origin and history of integral

integral(adj.)

late 15c., "of or pertaining to a whole; intrinsic, belonging as a part to a whole," from Old French intégral (14c.), from Medieval Latin integralis "forming a whole," from Latin integer "whole" (see integer). Related: Integrally. As a noun, 1610s, from the adjective.

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to integral

integer(n.)

"a whole number" (as opposed to a fraction), 1570s, from noun use of Latin integer (adj.) "intact, whole, complete," figuratively, "untainted, upright," literally "untouched," from in- "not" (see in- (1)) + root of tangere "to touch" (from PIE root *tag- "to touch, handle"). The word was used earlier in English as an adjective in the Latin sense, "whole, entire" (c. 1500).

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    More to explore

    broken
    "separated by force into parts, not integral or entire," past-participle adjective from Old English brocken, past participle...
    member
    c. 1300, "body part or organ, an integral part of an animal body having a distinct function" (in plural, "the body"), from...
    computation
    c. 1400, "act, process, or method of arithmetical calculation," from Latin computationem (nominative computatio), noun of action from past participle stem of computare "to sum up, reckon, compute," from com "with, together" (see com-) + putare "to reckon," originally "to prune,"
    reckoning
    early 14c., rekening, "a narration, account," verbal noun from reckon (v.). The meaning "a settling of accounts" is from mid-14c.; that of "act of counting or computing, a calculation" is from late 14c. as is the sense of "a bill of charges" (in an inn, tavern, etc.). Compare Dut
    calculation
    late 14c., calculacioun, "art, manner, or practice of computing by numbers," also "the process of making a horoscope," from Late Latin calculationem (nominative calculatio) "a computation, calculation, reckoning," noun of action from past-participle stem of calculare "to reckon,
    minister
    c. 1300, "man consecrated to service in the Christian Church, an ecclesiastic;" also "an agent acting for a superior, one who acts upon the authority of another," from Old French menistre "servant, valet, member of a household staff, administrator, musician, minstrel" (12c.) and
    adjective
    "word used to qualify, limit, or define a noun or noun-like part of speech," late 14c., short for noun adjective, from Old French adjectif (14c.), from Latin adjectivum "that is added to (the noun)," neuter of adjectivus "added," past participle of adicere "throw to, fling at, th
    poindexter
    "nerdy intellectual," by 1986, U.S. teenager slang, from the character Poindexter, introduced 1959 in the made-for-TV cartoon version of "Felix the Cat." The name originally was a surname, said to be Norman. There is a rare name Poindexter, appearing in French as Poingdestre, "r
    aftermath
    1520s, originally "a second crop of grass grown on the same land after the first had been harvested," from after + -math, which is from Old English mæð "a mowing, cutting of grass" (from PIE root *me- (4) "to cut down grass or grain"). Other words for it were aftercrop (1560s), a
    course
    c. 1300, "onward movement, motion forward, a running in a prescribed direction or over a prescribed distance; path or distance prescribed for a race, a race-course" from Old French cors "course; run, running; flow of a river" (12c.), from Latin cursus "a running; a journey; direc

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    Dictionary entries near integral
    • intaglio
    • intail
    • intake
    • intangible
    • integer
    • integral
    • integrate
    • integrated
    • integration
    • integrity
    • integument
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