logistic
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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.[1] 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.[2]
The term logistic and logistical also found occasional mathematical use in English prior to 1800, from the same Greek origin.
Adjective
logistic (not comparable)
- (mathematics) Relating to symbolic logic.
- (statistics) Relating to the logistic function.
- (mathematics, obsolete) Using sexagesimal fractions, especially in arithmetic or logarithms.[3]
- (mathematics, obsolete) Relating to basic arithmetic.[3]
- 1730 July, J. P. Biester, “Decreasing Logarithms”, in The Present State of the Republick of Letters, volume 6, page 103:
- If we compare the calculus of a triangle, by the logistic logarithms …
- (mathematics, obsolete) Skilled in calculating.
- (mathematics, obsolete) Proportional.
Derived terms
Translations
mathematics: relating to symbolic logic
|
statistics: relating to the logistic function
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun
logistic (countable and uncountable, plural logistics)
- (countable, mathematics) A logistic function or graph of a logistic curve.
- (uncountable, mathematics, obsolete) The art of calculation.
- (uncountable, mathematics, obsolete) Sexagesimal arithmetic.
Translations
mathematics: logistic function
|
References
- Verhulst, Pierre-François (1845) “Recherches mathématiques sur la loi d'accroissement de la population [Mathematical Researches into the Law of Population Growth Increase]”, in Nouveaux Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles, volume 18, retrieved 2013-02-18, page 8 of 1–42: “Nous donnerons le nom de logistique à la courbe // We will give the name logistic to the curve”
- Verhulst first refers to arithmetic progression and geometric progression, and refers to the geometric growth curve as a logarithmic curve (confusingly, the modern term is instead exponential curve, which is the inverse). He then calls his curve logistic, in contrast to logarithmic, and compares the logarithmic curve and logistic curve in the figure of his paper.
Etymology 2
From French logistique, from loger (“to lodge”) or logis (“lodging place”).[1]
Adjective
logistic (not comparable)
- (operations) Relating to logistics.
Translations
References
- “logistics”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
Derived terms
Anagrams
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
