al|ge|bra

al|ge|bra «AL juh bruh», noun.

1. the branch of mathematics that uses both letters and numbers to show relations between quantities. In algebra quantities are denoted by letters, negative numbers as well as ordinary numbers are used, and problems are solved in the form of equations. The equation x + y = x² is a way of stating, by algebra, that the sum of two quantities equals the square of one of them. »

Algebra is a shorthand used to arrive at answers to general problems instead of solving each separately by the boring and inefficient process of plain arithmetic (Harper's).

2. a textbook or treatise on this science.

╂[< Medieval Latin algebra < Arabic al-jabor the bone setting; reduction (that is, of parts to a whole)]