An archaic or variant spelling of arithmetic, referring to the mathematical discipline of numbers and calculation.
From Middle English arsmetike, from Old French, from Latin arithmetica, from Greek arithmetikē. This early English spelling reflects phonetic pronunciation before modern standardization.
Medieval spellings like 'arsmetik' show us how English pronunciation has shifted—what was pronounced 'arz-MET-ik' is now 'uh-RITH-muh-tik,' a change that happened over just 500 years.
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