calculus
noun
- branch of mathematics
- concretion of material, usually mineral salts, that forms in an organ or duct of the body
- form of hardened dental plaque
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈkæl.kjʊ.ləs/ / /ˈkæl.kjə.ləs/ / /ˈkælk(j)ʊləs/
noun
Etymology: * Borrowed from Latin calculus (“a pebble or stone used as reckoning counters in abacus”), diminutive of calx (“limestone”) + -ulus. * Mathematical topic is from differential calculus.
- Calculation; computation.
- Any formal system in which symbolic expressions are manipulated according to fixed rules.
“lambda calculus”
“predicate calculus”
- Differential calculus and integral calculus considered as a single subject.
“Near-synonyms: analysis, mathematical analysis”
“I took calculus in high school.”
- A stony concretion that forms in a bodily organ.
“Commonly indicated for treatment of sour crop (Fig. 11-11, A), an ingluviotomy is done to retrieve crop calculi, ingluvioliths, or foreign bodies (which are not accessible per os) or to retrieve proventricular or ventricular foreign bodies (using micromagnets [glued in place within plastic tubes], lavage, or endoscopy) and for the placement of an ingluviotomy or proventriculotomy tube or the collection of crop wall biopsies.”
- Deposits of calcium phosphate salts on teeth.
- A decision-making method, especially one appropriate for a specialised realm.
“The Tory leader refused to state how many financiers he thought should end up in jail, saying: “There is not some simple calculus."”