Algorist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A professional who specializes in utilizing algorithms for analyzing complex data sets and solving computational issues
2. An expert who designs and applies algorithms to process and solve mathematical or computer-related problems
3. A person skilled in creating step-by-step computational procedures to analyze information efficiently

Etymology: The word "algorist" is a corruption of the name of al-Khwārizmī, the Persian mathematician whose work introduced Arabic numerals to the Western world. The name was attached to a method of calculation, and over time the sound of his name was reshaped in the mouths and pens of European writers until it became a different word altogether. The "algor-" of "algorism" and "algorist" is essentially his name worn down, and the mathematical sense of the surrounding family of words, from "algorithm" onward, grew out of that same source. Because "algorist" was formed from a personal name rather than from a Latin or Greek root, its meaning followed the sense of the procedures it described: a person skilled in computation by the Arabic numeral system. The word therefore carries the name of a single scholar inside it, a trace of the moment European arithmetic adopted the new notation.