From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisharithmetica‧rith‧me‧tic1 /əˈrɪθmətɪk/ ●○○ noun [uncountable] HMthe science of numbers involving adding, multiplying etc → mathematics
Examples from the Corpus
arithmetic• One can imagine his excitement when he later discovered the similarities in progression between the hexagrams and his own binary arithmetic.• Integer arithmetic should be used, to avoid the problems of approximate answers.• Once, multiplying or dividing by zero had terrifying results, reducing orderly arithmetic to instant nonsense.• This obvious feature of the parliamentary arithmetic is ignored by many writers on the 1931 crisis.• Of course that simple arithmetic may be wrong.• Now consider the arithmetic of compensation for personal risk as it applies to job-market choices.• The arithmetic is relentless on this one.• By some weird arithmetic, the more life stuffs itself into the valley, the more spaces it creates for further life.arithmeticar‧ith‧met‧ic2 /ˌærɪθˈmetɪk◂/ (also arithmetical /-tɪkəl/) adjective technical HMinvolving or relating to arithmetic the arithmetic mean (=average) —arithmetically /-kli/ adverbExamples from the Corpus
arithmetic• As with arithmetic shift, each bit is moved a number of positions to the left or right.• Some computers provide both logical and circular shifts, together with the appropriate arithmetic shifts.Origin arithmetic1 (1200-1300) Old French arismetique, from Latin, from Greek, from arithmein “to count”, from arithmos “number” 