Merriam-Webster's Word Central

September 15, 2009

quotient (noun): \KWOH-shunt\
What does it mean?: : the number resulting from the division of one number by another
How do you use it?: Students were given 20 long division problems and told to write the quotient from each in the column at the right side of the page.
Are you a word wiz?: Which of the following do you think tells the story of how "quotient" came to be?

A. It comes from the name of an ancient Greek school.

B. It's from the Middle English "quocient," which is an altered form of the Latin "quotiens," meaning "how many times."

C. It's from the Medieval Latin word "quotare," meaning "to mark the number of, number references."

D. It comes from the name of an ancient Arab mathematician.

How many times did you consider an answer other than B? "Quotient" traces back to the Latin "quotiens," which in turn traces back to "quot," meaning "how many." "Quotient" has been part of the English language since the 15th century, but between now and then it's developed three other meanings. The first two are also math-related but the last one is used in more general contexts to mean "the magnitude of a specified characteristic or quality." For example, if a bike has "a high coolness quotient" it is considered to be very cool.

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