mathesis

/məˈθiːsɪs/

mathesis noun: mental calculation or discipline; science, especially mathematical learning.

Noun

mathesis (countable and uncountable, plural matheses)

(archaic) Mental calculation or discipline; science, especially mathematical learning.
- Forget the Boys, forget your loyalties to your Dead, first of all to Rebekah, for she, they, are but distractions, temporal, flesh, ever attempting to drag the Uranian Devotee back down out of his realm of pure Mathesis, of that which abides.1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon
The science of establishing a systematic order for things. (After Foucault.)
- I’m using 'mathesis' — a universal science of measurement and order […]1997, Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 69 (Totem Books, Icon Books; →ISBN)

Forms of mathesis

plural	matheses

Origin of mathesis

From Anglo-Norman mathesis, Middle French mathesie, and their source, Late Latin mathesis (“astrology, liberal arts, science”), from Ancient Greek μάθησις (máthēsis, “learning”), from the same base as μανθάνω (manthánō, “to learn”).

Words formed from mathesis

mathetics

Questions about mathesis

What does mathesis mean?: Mathesis means mental calculation or discipline; science, especially mathematical learning.
What part of speech is mathesis?: Mathesis is a noun.
How do you pronounce mathesis?: Mathesis is pronounced /məˈθiːsɪs/ (UK).
What is the plural of mathesis?: The plural of mathesis is matheses.

Words near mathesis in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: mathesis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mathesis.wav.

Cite this entry: “mathesis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mathesis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.