Definition:Pythagoreans/Trivium
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Definition
The trivium was the medieval name of the supplementary course of study of the Pythagoreans, adopted by the educational establishments in Europe.
These supplementary bodies of knowledge were:
- Grammar
- Rhetoric
- Logic.
Also see
Linguistic Note
The word trivium is a Latin word meaning the three ways, or place where three roads meet.
As the trivium was a preliminary course of study to the quadrivium, and thereby simpler, from this root the word trivial evolved, which has a meaning in accordance with insignificant, self-evident and commonplace, and the like.
Sources
- 1980: David M. Burton: Elementary Number Theory (revised ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $1$: Some Preliminary Considerations: $1.3$ Early Number Theory
- 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {A}.2$: Pythagoras (ca. $\text {580}$ – $\text {500}$ B.C.)