Xref: utzoo comp.sys.handhelds:3605 sci.math:13449 sci.lang:8027 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!eru!hagbard!sunic!news.funet.fi!tukki.jyu.fi!tukki!tt From: tt@tarzan.jyu.fi (Tapani Tarvainen) Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds,sci.math,sci.lang Subject: origin of eigenvalue & -vector Message-ID: Date: 15 Nov 90 10:37:04 GMT References: <6132@quanta.eng.ohio-state.edu> <685@atcmpe.atcmp.nl> Sender: news@tukki.jyu.fi (News articles) Organization: University of Jyvaskyla Lines: 15 In-Reply-To: jc@atcmp.nl's message of 11 Nov 90 08:21:44 GMT [Note strange cross-posting ... there is no sci.math.etymology :-( ] In article <685@atcmpe.atcmp.nl> jc@atcmp.nl (Jan Christiaan van Winkel) writes: >eigenvalue and eigenvector. the word >'eigen' stems from dutch and means something like 'own' or 'self'. I am proud >that at least a few words from my not so widespread language (about 20M people >speak it) make it in international disciplins! :-) I've always thought eigenvalue and eigenvector come from German, not Dutch. Does anybody know where, when and by whom they were first used (1) in any language (which?) and (2) in English, and which way they came to English? -- Tapani Tarvainen (tarvaine@jyu.fi, tarvainen@finjyu.bitnet)