Maths History - Etymology

• The word "mathematics" (Greek: μαθηματικά or mathēmatiká)
  comes from the Greek μάθημα (máthēma),
• which means learning, study, science, and additionally came to have the narrower and
• more technical meaning "mathematical study", even in Classical times.
• Its adjective is μαθηματικός (mathēmatikós), related to learning, or studious, which likewise further came to mean mathematical.
• In particular, μαθηματικὴτέχνη (mathēmatikḗ tékhnē), in Latin ars mathematica, meant the mathematical art.
• The apparent plural form in English, like the French plural form les mathématiques (and
  the less commonly used singular derivative la mathématique), goes back
  to the Latin neuter plural mathematica (Cicero), based on the Greek plural τα
  μαθηματικά (ta mathēmatiká), used by Aristotle, and meaning roughly "all things
  mathematical".
• In English, however, the noun mathematics takes
  singular verb forms.
• It is often shortened to math in English-speaking
  North America and maths elsewhere.