<p>「素」generically means <em>basal, essential, intrinsic, primal</em>. Hence you have vocabulary like</p>

<ul>
<li>元素 (<em>atom</em>), the fundamental constituent of matter (well, the name was given before they discovered subatomic particles)</li>
<li>詞素 (<em>morpheme</em>), the fundamental constituent of words</li>
<li>要素 (<em>essential factor</em>)</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T14:01:47.603Z
It 's very interesting to find that google translate `primer number' to '素数' in Japanese. So it borrowed from Japanese. Do you know some Japanese about the word 素?
Wizard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T14:03:33.787Z
atom is reasonable,  prime number can not be decomposed any more.
Wizard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T14:10:29.543Z
@Algebra well「素」in Japanese shares the *base, primal* meanings with Chinese. As for whether 素數 originated in Japanese, I'm not sure. They might have coined it - there's a heap of words in Chinese that originated from [*Wasei-Kango*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasei-kango).
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T13:59:15.107Z
2019-12-09T13:59:15.107Z
dROOOze
<p>素 can mean <em>prime in  some way</em>. See this definition in dictionaries:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>带有根本性质的物质或构成事物的基本成分。</p>
<p>元素；毒素；因素；要素</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T14:05:38.337Z
2019-12-09T14:05:38.337Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
dan
<p>素 can mean 物的基本成分 (basic element of something) as an extension from its base meaning of plain, natural, pure, unmodified.</p>

<p>In its synonym 质数, 质 also means the nature of something or being plain and simple.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T13:58:40.760Z
2019-12-09T13:58:40.760Z
xngtng
<p>素数 is a Japanese mathematic term for &quot;prime number&quot;, which equates to the Chinese term &quot;质数&quot; - the natural numbers greater than 1, that have only two factors, one and the number itself.</p>
<p>Note that &quot;质&quot; has the meaning of &quot;单纯&quot;, which is also reflected by 素 - a pure, unmodified element, such as &quot;朴素&quot;, &quot;元素&quot;.</p>
<p><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B4%A0%E6%95%B0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">素数（そすう、英: primeあるいはprime number）</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-26T19:00:41.030Z
2022-11-26T19:00:41.030Z
r13
<p>Composite number is translated as 合数, which do make sense; 
Prime number is called 素数, what does 素 means here? </p>

<p>Is it possible to trace the source of such translation?</p>

<translation><word>
What does 素 mean in 素数?
# What does 素 mean in 素数?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-12-09)

Composite number is translated as 合数, which do make sense;
Prime number is called 素数, what does 素 means here?

Is it possible to trace the source of such translation?

**Tags:** translation, word


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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-12-09. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

「素」generically means *basal, essential, intrinsic, primal*. Hence you have vocabulary like

* 元素 (*atom*), the fundamental constituent of matter (well, the name was given before they discovered subatomic particles)
* 詞素 (*morpheme*), the fundamental constituent of words
* 要素 (*essential factor*)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: It 's very interesting to find that google translate `primer number' to '素数' in Japanese. So it borrowed from Japanese. Do you know some Japanese about the word 素?  
> **username_0**: atom is reasonable,  prime number can not be decomposed any more.  
> **username_1**: @Algebra well「素」in Japanese shares the *base, primal* meanings with Chinese. As for whether 素數 originated in Japanese, I'm not sure. They might have coined it - there's a heap of words in Chinese that originated from [*Wasei-Kango*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasei-kango).  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2019-12-09. Score: 2

素 can mean *prime in some way*. See this definition in dictionaries:

> 带有根本性质的物质或构成事物的基本成分。
>
> 元素；毒素；因素；要素


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### Answer by username_3 on 2019-12-09. Score: 1

素 can mean 物的基本成分 (basic element of something) as an extension from its base meaning of plain, natural, pure, unmodified.

In its synonym 质数, 质 also means the nature of something or being plain and simple.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2022-11-26. Score: 1

素数 is a Japanese mathematic term for "prime number", which equates to the Chinese term "质数" - the natural numbers greater than 1, that have only two factors, one and the number itself.

Note that "质" has the meaning of "单纯", which is also reflected by 素 - a pure, unmodified element, such as "朴素", "元素".

[素数（そすう、英: primeあるいはprime number）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B4%A0%E6%95%B0)


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