-
If you would like to post, please check out the MrExcel Message Board FAQ and register here. If you forgot your password, you can reset your password.
Long division symbol name?
- Thread starter sodapop
- Start date
Excel Facts
Shade all formula cells
To shade all formula cells: Home, Find & Select, Formulas to select all formulas. Then apply a light fill color.
cornflakegirl
Well-known Member
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2004
- Messages
- 2,023
Well a classmate of mine let me in on the secret. The teacher was not looking for the long division symbol name like he said but was looking for Vinculum.
So, thanks for everyones help.
I have submitted the suggestion of 'divant' as a nice name for the "long division symbol" to an online Webster's dictionary site. They haven't posted it yet, and I don't know if they will. When I first Google searched for it a while back, there were no hits and no spelling suggestions. A company now uses it for the name of their web site, but they only started their web site in March 2011 and I have an old email to a friend of mine dated from November 2010 wherein I first suggested the term 'divant'. If you like the term, start telling your friends that 'divant is the short name for the long division symbol'. Words become words when enough people agree that the same symbol represents the same object or meaning. Let's all start using 'divant' in place of 'long division symbol'. I made it up, but I promise not to copyright it. LOL!
Last edited:
Please just start using "divant" and tell all your friends.
divant (noun) : short name to replace the phrase 'long division symbol' used for
the arithmetic operator consisting of a right parenthesis connected to a
super-scripted line, where the divisor is placed to the left of the parenthesis,
the dividend is place under the super-scripted line, and the quotient is placed
above the super-scripted line.
http://colly.dyndns.org/math/divant.jpg
Just so you know - when I first submitted this word suggestion, Google search found NO hits for "divant".
The plus and minus symbols have been around since the 1300-1400's. Isn't it about time the long division symbol gets its own name?
Merriam-Webster rejected my submission. They claim words only get added to dictionaries based on usage:
Help | Merriam-Webster
Please just tell your friends that the long division symbol is called a "divant" and ask them to tell their friends, and so on.
Add it to your spell checkers. You'll probably have to add obelus and vinculum while you're at it.
Check and see that you also know virgule and solidus.
divant (noun) : short name to replace the phrase 'long division symbol' used for
the arithmetic operator consisting of a right parenthesis connected to a
super-scripted line, where the divisor is placed to the left of the parenthesis,
the dividend is place under the super-scripted line, and the quotient is placed
above the super-scripted line.
http://colly.dyndns.org/math/divant.jpg
Just so you know - when I first submitted this word suggestion, Google search found NO hits for "divant".
The plus and minus symbols have been around since the 1300-1400's. Isn't it about time the long division symbol gets its own name?
Merriam-Webster rejected my submission. They claim words only get added to dictionaries based on usage:
Help | Merriam-Webster
Please just tell your friends that the long division symbol is called a "divant" and ask them to tell their friends, and so on.
Add it to your spell checkers. You'll probably have to add obelus and vinculum while you're at it.
Check and see that you also know virgule and solidus.
Last edited:
One could wish for teachers who care a bit more about accuracy of word usage. Asking for one thing and expecting another is frustrating to both parties and can only be expected to cause breakdowns in communications.
It happened to one of my sister's teachers in the 8th grade. She took extremely complete and accurate class notes and when one of her teachers subjected them to a test that was not even based on the subject as it had been taught, she took her notes, the test, and our parents to the school board. End result, the teacher got fired.
