Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In mathematics, a certain curve, ‘the witch of Agnesi.’ See
witch .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The plane curve, known as versiera, is also called "the Witch of Agnesi".
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Aachen-Assize 1840-1916 1913
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Somehow the English translator managed to read la versiera as l'avversiera - a she-devil.
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It was originally named by the Italian mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi, who called it la versiera, apparently a nautical term meaning "a rope which turns a sail".
hernesheir commented on the word versiera
A nice illustration and nicer animation of the Witch of Agnesi are given at its Wikipedia citation, which see.
February 5, 2013