The Whetstone of Witte
Preserved but no longer current.
A famous treatise on algebra (1556) by Robert Recqrde. The old name for algebra was the "Cossic Art,*' and Cos ingenii rendered into English is "the Whetstone of Wit." In Scott's Fortunes of Nigel the maid told the belated traveller that her master had "no other books but her young mistress's Bible . . . and her master's Whetstone of Witte, by Robert Recorde.
một luận thuyết nổi tiếng về đại số (1556) của Robert Recqrde
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The Whetstone of Witte” mean?
A famous treatise on algebra (1556) by Robert Recqrde. The old name for algebra was the "Cossic Art,*' and Cos ingenii rendered into English is "the Whetstone of Wit." In Scott's Fortunes of Nigel the maid told the belated traveller that her master had "no other books but her young mistress's Bible . . . and her master's Whetstone of Witte, by Robert Recorde.
Is “The Whetstone of Witte” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.