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calculus

noun

  1. branch of mathematics
  2. concretion of material, usually mineral salts, that forms in an organ or duct of the body
  3. form of hardened dental plaque
L30343 on Wikidata ↗

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.

  1. Calculation; computation.
  2. Any formal system in which symbolic expressions are manipulated according to fixed rules.

    lambda calculus

    predicate calculus

  3. Differential calculus and integral calculus considered as a single subject.

    Near-synonyms: analysis, mathematical analysis

    I took calculus in high school.

  4. 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.

  5. Deposits of calcium phosphate salts on teeth.
  6. 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."