precalculus

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-

Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-i

Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i?

Proto-Italic *prai

Proto-Italic *prai-

Latin prae-lbor.

Middle English pre-

English pre-

English calculus

English precalculus

From pre- + calculus.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Noun

precalculus (uncountable)

1. (education, mathematics) A course, or set of courses, that includes (specifically) trigonometry and algebra at an appropriate level to prepare students to study calculus.
   • 2016, Pam Goodner (lead writer/editor), Eureka Math Precalculus Study Guide, Wiley (Jossey-Bass), page ix,

     As we wrote the Precalculus course, we wanted to create interest for older high school students by presenting topics in a context, something that students could relate to so that they could see the value in their work.

   • 2017, Sheldon Axler, Precalculus: A Prelude to Calculus, Wiley, 3rd Edition, page xviii,

     Similarly, many precalculus textbooks consider, for example, a colony of bacteria doubling in size every 3 hours, with the textbook then producing the formula $e^{(t\ln 2)/3}$ for the growth factor after $t$ hours.

   • 2023, Mehdi Rahmani-Andebili, Precalculus, Springer, page v,

     Moreover, in many universities and colleges, a precalculus course is mandatory for under-prepared students as the prerequisite course of Calculus 1.

Translations

class before calculus

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• French: pré-calcul (fr) m
• German: Elementarmathematik f
• Italian: please add this translation if you can

See also

• prealgebra