Symbols:Nabla/Also known as
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Nabla: Also known as
The symbol nabla is also known as del, from its use for the Del operator.
Linguistic Note
The term nabla derives from the ancient Greek word νάβλα for a Phoenician harp.
This arises from the shape of the nabla symbol: $\nabla$.
The term was originally suggested by the encyclopedist William Robertson Smith to Peter Guthrie Tait.
As a result of this suggestion, the term was used in correspondence between Tait and James Clerk Maxwell, mainly in a jocular context.
The name gained official traction as a result of its adoption by Lord Kelvin in his lectures.
Sources
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): del
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): del