Meaning & use
arithmetic
Last updated
the branch of mathematics dealing with basic operations on numbers, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
See it in a sentence
The students practiced arithmetic problems before moving on to algebra.
Simple arithmetic showed that the budget didn't add up.
A note on using this word
As a noun, arithmetic is stressed on the third syllable (a-RITH-me-tic); the word is also used informally to mean the basic logic of a situation, as in 'the political arithmetic of the election.'
Words with a similar meaning
calculationmath
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