logistic
/ləˈd͡ʒɪs.tɪk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.11 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
adj
Relating to the logistic function.
Example Sentences
- "If we compare the calculus of a triangle, by the logistic logarithms …"
Etymology
From French logistique, from Ancient Greek λογιστικός (logistikós, “practiced in arithmetic; rational”), from λογίζομαι (logízomai, “I reason, I calculate”), from λόγος (lógos, “reason, computation”), whence English logos, logic, logarithm, etc.; modern mathematical use influenced by related logarithmic. Sense of “logistic function” by Pierre François Verhulst (1845) in French, then borrowed into English. Verhulst does not explain his choice of naming, but he contrasts it with the logarithmic curve (also from λόγος (lógos)), and it is presumably by analogy with arithmetic and geometric (other divisions of mathematics), as his discussion of arithmetic growth and geometric growth precede his discussion of logistic growth. The term logistic and logistical also found occasional mathematical use in English prior to 1800, from the same Greek origin.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: logistique, λογιστικός
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ləˈd͡ʒɪs.tɪk/
- British English: /ləˈd͡ʒɪs.tɪk/