30 November 2015
zenzizenzizenic
[zen-zee-zen-zee-zen-zik]
noun
– obsolete form of mathematical notation representing the eighth power of a number (that is, the zenzizenzizenzic of a number x is the power x8), dating from a time when powers were written out in words rather than as superscript numbers.
Origin
This term was suggested by Robert Recorde, a 16th-century Welsh writer of popular mathematics textbooks, in his 1557 work The Whetstone of Witte (although his spelling was zenzizenzizenzike); he wrote that it “doeth represent the square of squares squaredly”. At the time Recorde proposed this notation, there was no easy way of denoting the powers of numbers other than squares and cubes. The root word for Recorde’s notation is zenzic, which is a German spelling of the medieval Italian word censo, meaning “squared”. Since the square of a square of a number is its fourth power, Recorde used the word zenzizenzic (spelled by him as zenzizenzike) to express it. Some of the terms had prior use in Latin “zenzicubicus”, “zensizensicus” and “zensizenzum”. This is a condensed form of the Italian censo di censo, used by Leonardo of Pisa in his famous book Liber Abaci of 1202. Similarly, as the sixth power of a number is equal to the square of its cube, Recorde used the word zenzicubike to express it; a more modern spelling, zenzicube, is found in Samuel Jeake’s Logisticelogia. Finally, the word zenzizenzizenzic denotes the square of the square of a number’s square, which is its eighth power. In modern notation it reads:
As a linguistic oddity, zenzizenzizenic has more Zs than any other word in the Oxford English Dictinary.
Source: wikipedia
Today’s quote
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
– Oscar Wilde
On this day
30 November 1835 – birth of Mark Twain, U.S. novellist, author of ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’. Died 21 April 1910.
30 November 1874 – birth of U.K. Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. Died 24 January 1965.
30 November 1900 – death of Oscar Wilde, Irish writer and poet. Wilde wrote a number of plays, poems and epigrams. His only novel was ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. His plays included ‘The Importance of Being Ernest’, and ‘Salome’. In addition to English, he was fluent in German and French. In 1895, Wilde was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ which related to some of his homosexual relationships. He received the maximum sentence of two years hard labour. On his release from prison in 1897, Wilde moved to Paris, living in exile and poverty. He died on 30 November 1900 from cerebral meningitis. He was buried at Cimetière de Bagneux, but in 1909 his remains were transferred to Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris. He was born on 16 October 1854.
30 November 1936 – Crystal Palace in Britain is destroyed by fire. The Crystal Palace had been constructed for the Great Exhibition in 1851 and featured the first public toilets in England. During the Exhibition, visitors were able to pay 1 penny to use the conveniences. It was from this that the term ‘spend a penny’ came into use as a euphemism for visiting the loo.
30 November 1950 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces that he is willing to use atomic bombs to bring peace to Korea.
30 November 1979 – Pink Floyd releases their cult album ‘The Wall’, which was later made into a movie and one of the greatest stage-shows of all time. The songs were written by Rogers Waters and Dave Gilmour. Roger Waters performed ‘The Wall’ stage-show with other celebrities on 21 July 1990 in Berlin, to celebrate the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.
30 November 2007 – death of U.S. daredevil, Evel Knievel from breathing difficulties. Knievel was best known for his failed attempt to jump over the Grand Canyon on a rocket-propelled motor-bike. He also successfully, and often unsuccessfully, attempted long distance motor-bike jumps, such as jumping 14 buses. Through his career, Knievel broke 35 bones. Born on 17 October 1938 as Robert Craig Knievel.