Speaking in Academic Contexts

Mathematical and scientific symbols

Common pronunciations (in British English – Gimson,1981) of mathematical and scientific symbols are given in the list below.

Symbols

Examples

x + 1	x plus one
x -1	x minus one
x ± 1	x plus or minus one
xy	x y;  x times y; x multiplied by y
(x — y)(x + y)	x minus y, x plus y
x/y	x over y;  x divided by y;
x ÷ y	x divided by y
x = 5	x equals 5;  x is equal to 5
x ≈ y	x is approximately equal to y
x ≡ y	x is equivalent to y;  x is identical with y
x ≠ y	x is not equal to y
x > y	x is greater than y
x < y	x is less than y
x ≥ y	x is greater than or equal to y
x ≤ y	x is less than or equal to y
0 < x < 1	zero is less than x is less than 1; x is greater than zero and less than 1
0 ≤ x ≤ 1	zero is less than or equal to x is less than or equal to 1; x is greater than or equal to zero and less than or equal to 1
x²	x squared
x³	x cubed
x4	x to the fourth;  x to the power four
xn	x to the n; x to the nth;  x to the power n
x-n	x to the minus n;  x to the power of minus n
√	root x; square root x; the square root of x
∛	the cube root of x
∜	the fourth root of x
	the nth root of x
(x + y)²	x plus y all squared
(x/y)²	x over y all squared
n!	n factorial; factorial n
x%	x percent
∞	infinity
x ∝ y	x varies as y; x is (directly) proportional to y
x ∝ 1/y	x varies as one over y; x is indirectly proportional to y
ẋ	x dot
ẍ	x double dot
f(x) fx	f of x; the function of x
f'(x)	f dash x; the (first) derivative of with respect to x
f”x	f double-dash x; the second derivative of f with respect to x
f”'(x)	f triple-dash x; f treble-dash x; the third derivative of f with respect to x
f(4)	f four x; the fourth derivative of f with respect to x
∂v	the partial derivative of v
∂v ∂θ	delta v by delta theta, the partial derivative of v with respect to θ
∂²v ∂θ²	delta two v by delta theta squared; the second partial derivative of v with respect to θ
dv	the derivative of v
dv dθ	d v by d theta, the derivative of v with respect to theta
d²v dθ²	d 2 v by d theta squared, the second derivative of v with respect to theta,
∫	integral
	integral from zero to infinity
∑	sum
	the sum from i equals 1 to n
w.r.t.	with respect to
logey	log to the base e of y; log y to the base e; natural log (of) y
∴	therefore
∵	because
→	gives, approaches
Δx → 0	delta x approaches zero
lim Δx→0	the limit as delta x approaches zero, the limit as delta x tends to zero
Lt Δx→0	the limit as delta x approaches zero, the limit as delta x tends to zero
m/sec	metres per second
x ∈ A	x belongs to A; x is a member of A; x is an element of A
x∉ A	x does not belong to A; x is not  a member of A; x is not an element of A
A⊂ B	A is contained in B; A is a proper subset of B
A ⊆ B	A is contained in B; A is a subset of B
A ⋂ B	A intersection B
A ⋃ B	A union B
cos x	cos x; cosine x
sin x	sine x
tan x	tangent x, tan x
cosec x	cosec x
sinh x	shine x
cosh x	cosh x
tanh x	than x
|x|	mod x; modulus x
18 ℃	eighteen degrees Centigrade
70 ℉	seventy degrees Fahrenheit

Greek alphabet

Roman alphabet

Fractions

Decimal Fractions

SI Units: Prefixes

Cardinal Numbers

Ordinal Numbers

Chemical Symbols

See also: Chemical Symbols