Phrase guide

calculus of variations

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The form of calculus that deals with the maxima and minima of definite integrals of functions of many variables.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: calculus, mathematics, sciences

Examples

  • 2004, Bernard Dacorogna, Introduction to the Calculus of Variations, 2nd Edition, Imperial College Press, page 2, In the nineteenth century and in parallel to some of the work that was mentioned above, probably, the most celebrated problem of the calculus of variations emerged, namely the study of the Dirichlet integral; a problem of multiple integrals.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the calculus of maxima and minima of definite integrals

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: calculus, infinitesimal calculus

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 變分法 /变分法 (biànfēnfǎ) — form of calculus
  • Czech: variační počet — form of calculus
  • Dutch: variatierekening — form of calculus
  • Finnish: variaatiolaskenta — form of calculus
  • French: calcul des variations — form of calculus
  • German: Variationsrechnung — form of calculus
  • Greek: λογισμός των μεταβολών (logismós ton metavolón) — form of calculus
  • Greek: μεταβολικός λογισμός (metavolikós logismós) — form of calculus
  • Hebrew: חשבון וריאציות — form of calculus
  • Hungarian: variációszámítás — form of calculus
  • Icelandic: hnikareikningur — form of calculus
  • Italian: calcolo delle variazioni — form of calculus
  • Japanese: 変分法 (henbunhō) — form of calculus
  • Korean: 변분법 (byeonbunbeop) — form of calculus
  • Maltese: Kalkulu tal-Varjazzjonijiet — form of calculus
  • Persian: حسابان وردشها — form of calculus
  • Piedmontese: càlcol dle variassion — form of calculus
  • Polish: rachunek wariacyjny — form of calculus
  • Portuguese: cálculo de variações — form of calculus
  • Russian: вариацио́нное исчисле́ние (variaciónnoje isčislénije) — form of calculus
  • Slovene: variacijski račun — form of calculus
  • Spanish: cálculo de variaciones — form of calculus
  • Swedish: variationskalkyl — form of calculus
  • Ukrainian: варіаційне числення (variacijne čyslennja) — form of calculus
  • Vietnamese: phép tính biến phân — form of calculus