What does arithmetic mean?
Word: Arithmetic
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Arithmetic means the part of mathematics that deals with numbers: adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing.
Synonyms: sums
How do you spell arithmetic?
Syllables: a - rith - me - tic
Tricky part: There is only one r. The vowel after m is e, though many students write arithmatic because the sound is unclear.
Watch out for: arithmatic, arithmetik, arethmetic
Memory tip: Use the old school saying: A Rat In The House May Eat The Ice Cream. The first letters spell A-R-I-T-H-M-E-T-I-C.
Arithmetic in a sentence
Example 1: Ravi does mental arithmetic faster than his calculator.
Example 2: Our arithmetic homework had twenty long division sums.
Example 3: Grandpa still checks the shop's accounts with pencil-and-paper arithmetic.
Fun Fact
Arithmetic comes from the Greek arithmos, meaning number.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Hana checked the arithmetic on the grocery bill twice and found a mistake of fourty pounds in the total.
a) arithmetic
b) grocery
c) fourty
d) mistake
Show answer
c) fourty. Four keeps its u, but forty drops it; arithmetic is spelt correctly in this sentence.
Spell-o-Spell
Read the four words. Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. arithmetic 2. calculater 3. devision 4. multiplicasion
a) working out sums with numbers
b) splitting a number into equal parts
c) adding a number to itself many times
d) a machine for working out sums
Show answer
a) working out sums with numbers. Division begins di-, not de-; multiplication ends -tion and calculator ends -or, so arithmetic is the correct one.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Simple itrhtaceim is enough to work out how much change you should get.
a) athletic
b) arthritic
c) arithmetic
d) rhetoric
Show answer
c) arithmetic. Arithmetic is the only choice with an m, and it uses every letter of the jumble.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word arithmetic as used in the sentence:
The arithmetic for the class picnic budget took Dev only a few minutes.
a) shopping
b) calculation
c) guesswork
d) planning
Show answer
b) calculation. Dev was adding and dividing the money, which is calculation, not guesswork.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An example of an arithmetic problem is ____.
a) drawing a triangle with a ruler
b) measuring an angle with a protractor
c) finding 45 + 28
d) plotting a graph of rainfall
Show answer
c) finding 45 + 28
2. Someone who is good at mental arithmetic can ____.
a) draw accurate maps from memory
b) work out sums in their head quickly
c) read music at first sight
d) remember long poems easily
Show answer
b) work out sums in their head quickly
