subtrahend
1
9.7
- noun
- /ˈsʌbtrəˌhɛnd/
- Specialized
- To calculate 15 - 7, the number 7 is the subtrahend and is subtracted from 15.
Examples
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Basic subtraction facts included problems in which the subtrahend (i.e., subtracted number) and the difference (i.e., answer) are single-digit numbers (e.g., 1 - 0 to 10 - 9).
Academic text (2002) -
In the subtraction operation 8 - 3, the number 3 is called the subtrahend.
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Do all your students know words such as minuend, subtrahend, quotient, remainder, product, and partial product?
Academic text (2015) -
In both cases, the subtrahend contains valuable information when a counting procedure is employed, either by specifying the number of downward counts required or the starting point at which counting up should begin.
Academic text (2018) -
The focus of the present research was on simple subtraction problems: those with minuends between 4 and 18 and subtrahends between 2 and 9 (e.g., 5-3; 14-6).
Academic text (2018) -
When solving the equation 20 - 6 = 14, the subtrahend is 6, which is taken away from 20.
Surface Forms
Morphology
subtrahend = subtract (semi-transparent) = sub + trah + end
The noun is formed by adding the Latin-derived suffix '-end' to the verbal base related to 'subtract', but the suffix is not productive in English and the internal form ('trah' vs. expected 'tract') is unfamiliar to many learners.
Etymology
The word subtrahend comes from Latin parts sub- 'from' and trahere 'to pull', the same root you see in subtract and tractor. So a subtrahend is the number that is 'pulled away' from another number.