Latin square
- noun
- /ˈlætɪn skwɛr/
- Specialized
:
cuadro latino
- In mathematics, a Latin square is used to arrange variables so that each symbol appears only once per row and once per column.
Examples
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Participants either did not exercise (control condition) or exercised at 60% or 80% of VO2 max for 33 minutes according to a predetermined, randomly assigned, balanced Latin square (Wagenar, 1969).
Academic text (2006) -
The experimental design was a replicated 4 x 4 Latin square balanced for residual effects.
Academic text (2015) -
It's called a Greco Latin square and it sounds like a pure math thing.
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The four levels of the influence manipulations were counterbalanced for presentation order and issue topic with a Greco-Latin square.
Academic text (2003) -
Teachers often use a Latin square to create balanced assessments that ensure each question type is equally represented.
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The design of the experiment relied on a Latin square to minimize bias by rotating the order of treatments for participants.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The technical meaning 'an n×n array with symbols so no symbol repeats in any row or column' is not derivable from the literal words 'Latin' (the ancient language) and 'square' (a geometric shape); 'Latin' here is part of a conventional mathematical label rather than indicating the language or a visible property. Because the term is terminological and arbitrary without domain knowledge, a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Latin square comes from old mathematicians who filled a square grid with Latin letters so each letter shows up only once in every row and column. So, a Latin square means 'a square grid filled with different symbols so none repeats in any row or column'.
