The Practical Guide to Math Vocabulary in Spanish
Do you intend to study math in Spanish and are looking for useful math vocabulary? Matemáticas is a broad and fascinating field of study!
Keep reading to discover why you should learn math vocabulary in Spanish and why people rightly say that math is a universal language. I’ll provide you with a ton of useful math terms, from basic concepts to advanced math vocabulary.
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Why Learn Math Vocabulary in Spanish?
Learning a new language is a multi-layered process that involves several areas of knowledge. Yes, you usually start with basic vocabulary and grammar rules, but as you progress in your Spanish skills, these areas start becoming more diverse and varied.
At this point, learning math vocabulary is an excellent idea. Here, I’m not talking about the basic knowledge of numbers in Spanish, as that’s everyday vocabulary that you need to learn even if you never do math in the language.
The terms I’ll cover in this article are subject-specific—math vocabulary for people who do math in Spanish. Think of students in Spanish-speaking countries, professionals in collaboration, or international researchers.
Math: An Universal Language
It’s been said that music and math are the only two truly universal languages. The idea behind this expression is that both music and math can be understood and deciphered by any human in the world, regardless of the language they speak.
Although that is true, in reality you still need a point of reference to work with both math and music in your own language. Musical notes, math symbols, and all the terminology surrounding these beautiful universal languages still need to have names in every different language spoken by people.
Which is why, even though you may not need to speak a specific language to learn math, you still need the math terms used in your goal language to learn math in that specific language.
Useful Math Vocabulary in Spanish
I’ve written before about Numbers in Spanish: Addition, Subtraction, and Fractions, so I won’t be repeating that math vocabulary here. I strongly recommend reading that article if you want to complete your math vocabulary knowledge.
Basic Math Words
Let’s start with some basic math vocabulary you’ll need every time you deal with math in Spanish.
| Español | English |
| las matemáticas | math |
| el número | number |
| par | even |
| impar | odd |
| suma | addition |
| sumar | to add |
| resta | subtraction |
| restar | to subtract |
| multiplicación | multiplication |
| multiplicar | to multiply |
| tablas de multiplicar | times tables |
| división | division |
| dividir | to divide |
| aritmética | arithmetic |
| álgebra | algebra |
| geometría | geometry |
| trigonometría | trigonometry |
| cálculo | calculus |
| estadística | statistics |
| fracciones | fractions |
| fisica | physics |
Math Symbols
Now, let’s take a look at the most common math symbols in Spanish.
| Español | English |
| + más | + plus |
| – menos | – minus |
| x por | x times |
| ÷ dividido entre | ÷ divided by |
| . punto | . point |
| % por ciento | % percent |
| % porcentaje | % percentage |
| √ raíz cuadrada | √ square root |
| ∛ raíz cúbica | ∛ cubic root |
| = igual | = equal |
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Geometry Terms
Since the times of ancient Greek mathematician Euclid, geometry has been a helpful body of knowledge for humanity. Here is some common Spanish math vocabulary related to geometry.
| Español | English |
| las figuras geométricas | geometric shapes |
| el cuadrado | square |
| el rectángulo | rectangle |
| el triángulo | triangle |
| el triángulo equilátero | equilateral triangle |
| el triángulo isósceles | isosceles triangle |
| el círculo | circle |
| el rombo | diamond |
| el trapecio | trapezium |
| el pentágono | pentagon |
| el hexágono | hexagon |
| el octágono | octagon |
| el dodecaedro | dodecahedron |
| el paralelogramo | parallelogram |
| el cubo | cubo |
| el prisma | prism |
| el prisma rectangular | rectangular prism |
| la pirámide | pyramid |
| la pirámide pentagonal | pentagonal pyramid |
| la esfera | sphere |
| el cono | cone |
| el cilindro | cylinder |
| la circunferencia | circumference |
| el radio | radius |
| el diámetro | diameter |
| el perímetro | perimeter |
| el área | area |
| la distancia | distance |
| la hipotenusa | hypotenuse |
| el cateto | leg or side |
| la longitud | length |
| el volumen | volume |
| la capacidad | capacity |
| la línea | line |
| la línea recta | straight line |
| la línea curva | curved line |
| la base | base |
| la altura | height |
| la esquina | corner |
| el ángulo | angle |
| el ángulo recto | right angle |
| el ángulo obtuso | obtuse angle |
| el ángulo agudo | acute angle |
| el ángulo reflexivo | reflex angle |
| el grado | degree |
| la simetría | symmetry |
| la superficie | surface |
| el arco | arc |
| la longitud de arco | arc length |
| cóncavo | concave |
| convexo | convex |
Algebra Terms
It’s time to learn some algebra terms in Spanish.
| Español | English |
| el álgebra | algebra |
| algebraico | algebraic |
| la ecuación | equation |
| el coeficiente | coefficient |
| la variable | variable |
| la exponente | exponent |
| la exponencial | exponential |
| el monomio | monomial |
| el binomio | binomial |
| el trinomio | trinomial |
| el polinomio | polynomial |
| binario | binary |
Advanced Math Terms
Finally, in this part you’ll find both advanced math terms and other math vocabulary that wasn’t included in any of the previous sections.
| Español | English |
| el promedio | average |
| el axioma | axiom |
| el eje | axis |
| el valor | value |
| la función compuesta | compound function |
| la convergencia | convergence |
| el sistema coordenado | coordinate system |
| el plano cartesiano | cartesian plane |
| el teorema de pitágoras | pythagoras theorem |
| el coseno | cosine |
| el seno | sine |
| la tangente | tangent |
| bidimensional | two-dimensional |
| tridimensional | three-dimensional |
| la unidad | unit |
| el segmento | segment |
| la rotación | rotation |
| el número racional | rational number |
| el número real | real number |
| el número decimal | decimal number |
| el resultado | result |
| el cociente | quotient |
| la función racional | rational function |
| la propiedad | property |
| la probabilidad | probability |
| la demostración | proof |
| el principio | principle |
| el problema | problem |
| el número primo | prime number |
| positivo | positive |
| negativo | negative |
| la derivada | derivative |
| la integral | integral |
| el cálculo integral | integral calculus |
| ecuaciones diferenciales | differential equations |
| el intervalo | interval |
| el gradiente | gradient |
| la gráfica | graph |
| el fractal | fractal |
| la elipse | ellipse |
| el límite | limit |
| el logaritmo | logarithm |
| la matriz | matrix |
Learn Math In Spanish and Learn Spanish with Math
You can do it both ways! Learn Spanish with math by learning this math vocabulary. Then, you’ll be able to learn math in Spanish, as you’ve already got the needed terms to do it. Either way, you’ll be improving your mathematical and language skills at the same time.
Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish speaking teachers from Guatemala, and start using math vocabulary in Spanish today!
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