Etymology

differential equation

Today it means: An equation involving the derivatives of a function. Full definition →

Latin aequatio differentialis
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The story

  1. Latin · calque ofaequatio differentialis
  2. English todaydifferential equation

First appears c. 1704 in the publications of Charles Hayes. Calque of Latin aequatio differentialis, which was coined by Leibniz in 1676.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.