The plus and minus signs (+ and −) are used universally to represent the notions of positive and negative as well as the operations of addition and subtraction. Their use has been extended to many other meanings, more or less analogous. Plus and minus are Latin terms.

History

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Though the signs now seem as familiar as the alphabet or the Hindu-Arabic numerals, they are not of great antiquity. The Egyptian hieroglyphic sign for addition, for example, resembled a pair of legs walking in the direction in which the text was written (Egyptian was written in varying directions), with the reverse sign indicating subtraction:

D54- or -D55

In Europe in the early 15th century the letters P and M were generally used.

The earliest print appearance of the modern signs seems to come from a book on "Behende und hüpscheenung auff allen Kauffmanschafft" or Mercantile Arithmetic by Johannes Widmann in 1489, used to indicate surpluses and deficits. The + is a simplification of the Latin "et" (comparable to the ampersand &). The − may be derived from a tilde written over m when used to indicate subtraction; or it may come from a shorthand version of the letter m itself.

More on [ Plus and minus signs ]

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@WesC1 he got a nice sound. wish him the best luck, plus he threw me logic some how lol
Qbdaproblem (Qbdaproblem) Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:40:19 -0000
@WesC1 he got a nice sound. wish him the best luck, plus he threw me logic some how lol
I got to open 1 of my presents early and to my luck it was my WII!!! yay!!! lolz ive been playing skate it for a while! plus wii sports and
ljwj080196 (Lacey Wheeler) Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:50:39 -0000
I got to open 1 of my presents early and to my luck it was my WII!!! yay!!! lolz ive been playing skate it for a while! plus wii sports and
@scottpharr Dude, you need to consult me! I have transported piranhas! Ha. Plus I have tanks, etc.... Next time! Good luck, Santa!
C_Wolf (Chris Wolf) Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:52:12 -0000
@scottpharr Dude, you need to consult me! I have transported piranhas! Ha. Plus I have tanks, etc.... Next time! Good luck, Santa!
Only seven buttons to go on Sam's present! @LaurieAnn is my good luck charm - having her here is making me do stuff. Plus Sam loves her.
noirbettie (Annika Barranti) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:40:42 -0000
Only seven buttons to go on Sam's present! @LaurieAnn is my good luck charm - having her here is making me do stuff. Plus Sam loves her.
@soulsonant any guild i was in for any length of time kinda fell apart, bad luck, plus K'J is a westcoast server so raid times were supe ...
ryancrawford (Ryan Crawford) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:44:15 -0000
@soulsonant any guild i was in for any length of time kinda fell apart, bad luck, plus K'J is a westcoast server so raid times were supe ...
Plus luck will surround the number 5!! Lol
mizmoni (Monica Andersen) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:13:41 -0000
Plus luck will surround the number 5!! Lol

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