Etymology

ideal number

Today it means: An algebraic integer that represents an ideal in the ring of integers of a number field. Full definition →

German ideale Zahl
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The story

  1. German · derived fromideale Zahl
  2. English todayideal number

Apparently a calque of German ideale Zahl, a concept in number theory developed by German mathematician Ernst Kummer (1810—1893) and later incorporated by Richard Dedekind into the ring theory concept of ideal.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.