• petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      7 months ago

      An English dictionary is not really going to tell you what mathematicians are doing. Like, its goal is to describe what the word “integer” means (in various contexts), it won’t tell you what the “integer series” is.

      https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/138633/what-are-the-whole-numbers

      The gist I see is that it’s kind of ambiguous whether the whole number series includes negatives or not, and in higher math you won’t see the term without a strict definition. It’s much more likely you’d see “non-negative integers” or the like.

      • Monstera@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        7 months ago

        wdym, you know what integers are called in latin languages? “inteiros” (pt), literally “whole”. everyone that does higher math (me included) uses it and understands it for what it is: numbers that are not fractions/irationals.

        Just cause there exists an English hegemony and your language is ill defined and confused with your multiple words for a single concept, that doesn’t mean you get to muddy the waters, rename something in maths, and make a mountain out of a mole hill. Integers include negatives and zero, saying whole numbers and integers is the same, no room for debate

        now excuse me while i go touch some grass