“重心”“形心”考

Traceability of “zhongxin”and “xingxin”

“重心”和“形心”是两个科学术语。它们的出现比较早,前者出现于1623年的《职方外纪》,后者出现于1627年的《奇器图说》。两个词都来自拉丁语,分别是centrum gravitatis和centro figure(或geometrica centrum)的仿译。“重心”后来还传到了日本。但“形心”一词,在《奇器图说》之后的300多年时间里,一直没有人使用。后来在1935年的一本数学名词汇编中再次出现,但它是《奇器图说》中的那个词的沿用,还是后来另行创造的,现在还不能确定。

“Zhongxin”(center of gravity)and“xingxin”(center of figure)are two Chinese terms in science.The former appeared in Giulio Alenio s Zhifang waiji(The World Geography,1623),and the latter appeared in Johann Schreck s Qiqi tushuo(Description of Mechanical Instruments,1627).Both words are from Latin,which are the loan-translations of centrum gravitatis and centro figure(or geometrica centrum).The word“zhongxin”was later passed to Japan.However,the term“xingxin”has not been used for more than 300 years after the Qiqi tushuo.Later we saw this word again in a vocabulary of mathematical terms in 1935.However,it is not certain whether it is the use of the word in Qiqi tushuo,or it was later coined separately.