theorem
A mathematical statement of some importance that has been proven to be true. Minor theorems are often called propositions. Theorems which are not very interesting in themselves but are an essential part of a bigger theorem's proof are called lemmas.
Other meanings
A syntactically correct expression that is deducible from the given axioms of a deductive system.
A mathematical statement that is expected to be true.
“Fermat's Last Theorem was known thus long before it was proved in the 1990s.”
Related words
- antitheorem
- countertheorem
- metatheorem
- nontheorem
- theorematic
- theoremhood
- theoremic
Word history
From Ancient Greek "θεώρημα" (speculation, proposition to be proved).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “theorem” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.