Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A quantity or number to be subtracted from another.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In mathematics, the number to be taken from another (which is called the minuend) in the operation of subtraction.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Math.) The sum or number to be subtracted, or taken from another (the minuend) to find the difference.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun arithmetic A number or quantity to be subtracted from another.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the number to be subtracted from the minuend

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin subtrahendum, neuter gerundive of subtrahere, to subtract; see subtract.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1670s, from Latin subtrahendus numerus ("number to be subtracted"), form of subtrahō ("I pull out from under, I subtract") (English subtract).

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Examples

  • The _subtrahend_ is placed _under_ the minuend to be _drawn_ from it.

    Orthography As Outlined in the State Course of Study for Illinois Elmer W. Cavins

  • It may seem a matter of trivial importance whether the pupil increases the subtrahend number or decreases the minuend number when he subtracts digits that involve taking or borrowing; and yet investigation proves that to increase the subtrahend number is by far the simpler process, and eliminates both a source of waste and a source of error, which, in the aggregate, may assume a significance to mental economy that is well worth considering.

    Craftsmanship in Teaching William Chandler Bagley 1910

  • We should, therefore, beware of the error to which in our unspirituality we are specially liable; and when we hear Christ assert that "whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin," we should believe and know, that these words are not extravagant, and contain no subtrahend, -- that they indicate a self-enslavement of the human will which is so real, so total, and so absolute, as to necessitate the renewing grace of God in order to deliverance from it.

    Sermons to the Natural Man 1857

Comments

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  • Simply "a quantity or number to be subtracted from another" Pretty word.

    October 5, 2008

  • see also minuend

    December 24, 2008