FW: help

[Dennis Baron]

Can someone point my friend in the right direction? Thanks.

__________________
Dennis Baron


-----Original Message-----
From: Joseph Rotman [mailto:rotman at math.uiuc.edu]
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 1999 12:47 PM
To: debaron at uiuc.edu
Subject: help


Dear Dennis,

I wonder if you can point me in a direction that will answer
an etymological question. Not the usual sort, because I'm interested
in the finding out where the mathematical usage of "variety"
comes from (it is a technical term widely used in algebraic
geometry). I've tried the OED, with no luck, and I'm not sure
where to go now. The term is at least 50 years old, if not 100,
and so it's not some recent neologism.

Any suggestions gratefully accepted.

Thanks,  Joe Rotman