[r-t] "Factorial"

[David Richards]

On Tue, 17 Mar 2020 at 14:56, Richard Smith <richard at ex-parrot.com> wrote:

>
> Does anyone know when the word "factorial" was coined?
>

>From the Google:

>>

*FACTORIAL*. The earlier term faculty was introduced around 1798 by
Christian Kramp (1760-1826).

*Factorial* was coined (in French as factorielle) by Louis François Antoine
Arbogast (1759-1803).

Kramp withdrew his term in favor of Arbogast's term. In the Preface, pp.
xi-xii, of his "Éléments d'arithmétique universelle," Hansen, Cologne
(1808), Kramp remarks:

...je leur avais donné le nom de facultés. Arbogast lui avait substitué la
nomination plus nette et plus française de factorielles; j'ai reconnu
l'avantage de cette nouvelle dénomination; et en adoptant son idée, je me
suis félicité de pouvoir rendre hommage à la mémoire de mon ami. [...I've
named them facultes. Arbogast has proposed the denomination factorial,
clearer and more French. I've recognised the advantage of this new term,
and adopting its philosophy I congratulate myself of paying homage to the
memory of my friend.]

>>
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