zeteticshttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zetetics_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezetetics, n.
Revised 2018

zeteticsnoun

Mathematics. rare and now only in historical contexts.
  1. 1843–
    The study of mathematical problems by expressing them in terms of equations and solving these algebraically, according to certain laws first specified by French mathematician François Viète (1540–1603).
    Zetetics, together with Viète's system for denoting both variables and constants by letters, represented a significant development in the systematic study and application of algebra.
    1. 1843
      Zetetics, a name given by Vieta..to the part of algebra which consists in the direct search after unknown quantities.
      Penny Cyclopaedia vol. XXVII. 775/2
    2. 1969
      The term ‘zetetics’ never became popular.
      Source Book Math., 1200–1800 ii. 75
    3. 2001
      Zetetics was the art of translating a problem, be it an arithmetical or a geometrical one, into one or more algebraic equations.
      H. J. M. Bos, Redefining Geom. Exactness viii. 146

Originally published as part of the entry for zetetic, adj. & n.

zetetics, n. was revised in June 2018.

zetetics, n. was last modified in July 2023.