, Rule of, meant the same as Algebra, by which name it was for some time called, when first introduced into Europe through the Italians, who named it Regola de Cosa, the Rule of the thing; the unknown quantity, or that which was required in any question, being called cosa, the thing; from whence we have Coss, and Cossic numbers, &c.
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Entry taken from A Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary, by Charles Hutton, 1796.
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