Etymology
The term Tuple generalizes the suffix of the sequence elements: single, double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, sextuple, septuple, octuple, ..., ‑tuple, ..., where the prefixes are taken from the Latin names of the numerals. The unique ‑tuple is the null tuple. A ‑tuple is called a singleton, a ‑tuple is called an ordered pair and a ‑tuple is a triple or triplet. The can be any nonnegative integer. For example, a complex number can be represented by a ‑tuple, a quaternion can be represented by a ‑tuple, an octonion can be represented by an octuple, (many mathematicians write the abbreviation "‑tuple") and a sedenion can be represented by a ‑tuple.
Although these cases feature ‑tuple for a suffix, the original suffix was ‑ple like in "triple" (three-fold) or "decuple" (ten‑fold). This originates from a medieval Latin suffix ‑plus (meaning "more") related to Greek ‑πλοῦς, which replaced the classical and late antique ‑plex (meaning "folded").
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)