surd
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L328851 on Wikidata ↗adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L340968 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /sɜːd/ / /sɝd/ / /sʌɹd/
adj
Etymology: First attested in the mid 16th century from Latin surdus (“deaf, mute”), used in mathematics for “irrational,” reflecting ἄλογος (álogos, “irrational, speechless”) as found in Euclid, apparently transmitted via Arabic جِذْر أَصَمّ (jiḏr ʔaṣamm, “deaf root”). The phonetic sense, “voiceless,” emerged in the 18th century. Doublet of surdo.
- Lacking the sense of hearing; deaf.
“…how all Words fall to the Ground, spent upon such a surd and Earless Generation of Men, stupid unto all Instruction…”
- unheard
“To this errour, of blending the ſurd and vocal modes of articulation together, may be added the too frequent uſe of compound articulations both vocal and ſurd.”
- Involving surds, or irrational numbers; not capable of being expressed in rational numbers.
“a surd expression or quantity; a surd number”
- unvoiced; voiceless
noun
Etymology: First attested in the mid 16th century from Latin surdus (“deaf, mute”), used in mathematics for “irrational,” reflecting ἄλογος (álogos, “irrational, speechless”) as found in Euclid, apparently transmitted via Arabic جِذْر أَصَمّ (jiḏr ʔaṣamm, “deaf root”). The phonetic sense, “voiceless,” emerged in the 18th century. Doublet of surdo.
- An irrational number, especially one expressed using the √ symbol.
- A voiceless consonant.