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Mathematics
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Modified 1 year, 4 months ago
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I know e is called e because Euler named that as it is the first letter of exponential, but why is pi called pi?

I have tried googling searching, but I am unable to find the correct answer to this question. I know Archimedes discovered pi, but I know he didn't give the name to pi. Is it some other reason?

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    $\begingroup$ This is a good question for HSM SE. $\endgroup$
    J.G.
    –  J.G.
    2024-05-22 23:17:53 +00:00
    Commented May 22, 2024 at 23:17
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    $\begingroup$ You know e is called e because it is Euler's number? Citation? $\endgroup$
    user14111
    –  user14111
    2024-05-22 23:17:59 +00:00
    Commented May 22, 2024 at 23:17
  • $\begingroup$ sorry, I edited it. it is called e because of exponential $\endgroup$
    Rufus Gordon-Heywood
    –  Rufus Gordon-Heywood
    2024-05-22 23:25:24 +00:00
    Commented May 22, 2024 at 23:25
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    $\begingroup$ It's not really known why $e$ is called $e$, see math.stackexchange.com/questions/3021988 $\endgroup$
    Sil
    –  Sil
    2024-05-22 23:27:57 +00:00
    Commented May 22, 2024 at 23:27
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    $\begingroup$ Has this question really never been asked before on Math.SE? $\endgroup$
    Brian Tung
    –  Brian Tung
    2024-05-22 23:34:38 +00:00
    Commented May 22, 2024 at 23:34

1 Answer 1

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Pi is called pi, because a Welsh mathematician named William Jones abbreviated the Greek word περίμετρος (perimetros) for perimeter, which starts with the letter π.

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    $\begingroup$ Doesn't the English word "perimeter" come (through the Latin) from the same Greek word? So it's "pi for perimeter", right? $\endgroup$
    user14111
    –  user14111
    2024-05-22 23:21:14 +00:00
    Commented May 22, 2024 at 23:21
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    $\begingroup$ Your second paragraph is rather bizarre: the perimeter of a circle has and will be $\pi$ times its diameter for all eternity. Happily this is consistent with $2\pi$ times the radius because the diameter is twice the radius. $\endgroup$
    Rob Arthan
    –  Rob Arthan
    2024-05-23 00:39:00 +00:00
    Commented May 23, 2024 at 0:39
  • $\begingroup$ @RobArthan That paragraph was not added by the original author anyway, so I have removed it. $\endgroup$
    Sil
    –  Sil
    2024-05-27 08:50:10 +00:00
    Commented May 27, 2024 at 8:50
  • $\begingroup$ Per theguardian.com/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/2015/mar/… this is just one option, more often it is considered as a first letter of periphery (περιφέρεια). See also this. Also there is The Man Who Invented Pi article. $\endgroup$
    Sil
    –  Sil
    2024-05-27 22:39:56 +00:00
    Commented May 27, 2024 at 22:39

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