CALCULUS (calculi)
Dictionary entry overview: What does calculus mean?
• CALCULUS (noun)
The noun CALCULUS has 3 senses:
1. a hard lump produced by the concretion of mineral salts; found in hollow organs or ducts of the body
2. an incrustation that forms on the teeth and gums
3. the branch of mathematics that is concerned with limits and with the differentiation and integration of functions
Familiarity information: CALCULUS used as a noun is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
• CALCULUS (noun)
Meaning:
A hard lump produced by the concretion of mineral salts; found in hollow organs or ducts of the body
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Synonyms:
calculus; concretion
Context example:
renal calculi can be very painful
Hypernyms ("calculus" is a kind of...):
rock; stone (a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "calculus"):
salivary calculus; sialolith (a stone formed in the salivary gland)
ptyalith (calculus in a salivary gland)
kidney stone; nephrolith; renal calculus; urinary calculus (a calculus formed in the kidney)
bilestone; gallstone (a calculus formed in the gall bladder or its ducts)
enterolith (a calculus occurring in the intestines)
bladder stone; cystolith (a calculus formed in the bladder)
urolith (a urinary stone)
Meaning:
An incrustation that forms on the teeth and gums
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Synonyms:
calculus; tophus; tartar
Hypernyms ("calculus" is a kind of...):
crust; encrustation; incrustation (a hard outer layer that covers something)
Meaning:
The branch of mathematics that is concerned with limits and with the differentiation and integration of functions
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
infinitesimal calculus; calculus
Hypernyms ("calculus" is a kind of...):
pure mathematics (the branches of mathematics that study and develop the principles of mathematics for their own sake rather than for their immediate usefulness)
Domain category:
math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "calculus"):
analysis (a branch of mathematics involving calculus and the theory of limits; sequences and series and integration and differentiation)
differential calculus; method of fluxions (the part of calculus that deals with the variation of a function with respect to changes in the independent variable (or variables) by means of the concepts of derivative and differential)
integral calculus (the part of calculus that deals with integration and its application in the solution of differential equations and in determining areas or volumes etc.)
calculus of variations (the calculus of maxima and minima of definite integrals)
