surd
pronunciation
How to pronounce surd in British English:
UK [sɜ:d]
How to pronounce surd in American English:
US [sɜrd]
-
- Noun:
- a consonant produced without sound from the vocal cords
-
- Adjective:
- of speech sounds
Word Origin
- surd (adj.)
- 1550s, "irrational" (of numbers), from Latin surdus "deaf, unheard, silent, dull; willfully deaf, inattentive," possibly related to susurrus "a muttering, whispering" (see susurration). The mathematical sense is from the use of Latin surdus to translate Arabic (jadhr) asamm "deaf (root)," itself apparently a loan-translation of Greek alogos, literally "speechless, without reason" (Euclid book x, Def.). In French, sourd remains the principal word for "deaf." As a noun from 1540s. Related: Surdity.
Example
- 1. The square root of5is a surd .
- 2. Although modern science and technology have proved that such methods are ab surd , there are still millions of people use such methods in many remote places nowadays .