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The term “derivatives” is widely used for financial derivatives like options and swaps. It’s gained such widespread adoption that it by far dwarfs the original
by dcolkitt 5y ago
The term “derivatives” is widely used for financial derivatives like options and swaps. It’s gained such widespread adoption that it by far dwarfs the original meaning of the instantaneous rate of change in calculus.
I think the simpler answer is that when a word has two meanings, one a widely used category of financial instruments and the other a narrowly defined branch of advanced mathematics, the former will almost always dominate everyday discussion.
- Retric 5y agoPossibility, I have heard “derivatives” most commonly used as a math term not a financial one. But it’s got plenty of other meanings: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/derivative https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/derivative
- tantalor 5y agoAs in "something that originates from something else"
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- gruez 5y ago>that it by far dwarfs the original meaning of the instantaneous rate of change in calculus. That's not even the original meaning. According to etymology section on wiktionary, it dates back to middle french and latin, before issac newton was even born. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/derivative#Etymology https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/derivative#Etymology
- lukeschlather 5y agoCryptography is more widely used than cryptocurrency. That people don't understand they're using it doesn't change the fact that "threatens the cryptography industry" is more scary than "threatens the cryptocurrency industry" especially since cryptocurrency relies on cryptography so it would be directly threatened as a consequence.
- talideon 5y agoThe term 'derivative' is rarely ambiguous, where as 'crypto' often is. That's a key difference here.
- nomoreplease 5y agoDerivatives industry means one thing though, and doesn’t mean the mathematics industry. It’s not ambiguous either