GIVEN

, Datum, a term very often used in mathematics, and signifies something that is supposed to be known.

Thus, if a magnitude be known, or if we can find another equal to it, it is said to be Given in magnitude. Or when the position of any thing is known, it is said to be Given in position. And when the diameter of <*> circle is known, the circle is Given in magnitude. Or the circle is Given in position when its centre is Given in position. When the kind or species of a figure is known, or remains the same, it is Given in specie. And so on.

Euclid wrote a book of Data, or concerning things Given, in 95 propositions, usually accompanying his Elements, in the best editions, and which Pappus reckons as one of the best specimens of the analytical works of the ancients.