logistic

Meaning

Adj

1. (not-comparable) Relating to symbolic logic.
2. (not-comparable) Relating to the logistic function.
3. (not-comparable, obsolete) Using sexagesimal fractions, especially in arithmetic or logarithms.
4. (not-comparable, obsolete) Relating to basic arithmetic.
5. (not-comparable, obsolete) Skilled in calculating.
6. (not-comparable, obsolete) Proportional.

Noun

1. (countable) A logistic function or graph of a logistic curve.
2. (obsolete, uncountable) The art of calculation.
3. (obsolete, uncountable) Sexagesimal arithmetic.

Synonyms

logistical

logistics

Boolean

logarithmic

logic

Translations

logistique

logistico

λογιστικός

logístic

logístico

logístico

logistisch

Logistik

logística

logistisch

logística

logística

λογικός

λογιστική

logistiek

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ləˈd͡ʒɪs.tɪk/

Etymology

From French logistique, from Ancient Greek λογιστικός (logistikós, “practiced in arithmetic; rational”), from λογίζομαι (logízomai, “I reason, I calculate”), from λόγος (lógos, “reason, computation”), whence English logos, logic, logarithm, etc.; modern mathematical use influenced by related logarithmic.
Sense of “logistic function” by Pierre François Verhulst (1845) in French, then borrowed into English. Verhulst does not explain his choice of naming, but he contrasts it with the logarithmic curve (also from λόγος (lógos)), and it is presumably by analogy with arithmetic and geometric (other divisions of mathematics), as his discussion of arithmetic growth and geometric growth precede his discussion of logistic growth.
The term logistic and logistical also found occasional mathematical use in English prior to 1800, from the same Greek origin.