Translating French Math-Sci Papers: Resources and Vocabulary

Many math and science papers make use of the subjunctive mood (expressing doubt, uncertainty, etc) just by the nature of science and mathematics in general. This goes for any language. Conjunctions and short phrases make up much of the vocabulary needed for translation, as well as cognates; words more common in language (compare integral with root, the latter being much more common in everyday usage in a variety of meanings) will require translation. It is sometimes the case that the meaning of a word or phrase is a false cognate, and other times the translation of a word from one language to another is imperfect. The best source of information on word meanings in a given context is a native language dictionary. The definitions can often be translated easily into English for a more reliable translation and meaning. 

References for translating French:

• Dictionnaire Larousse - French language dictionary, very useful web interface, a great reference for all words
• Google Translate - Has it's place, e.g. for common phrases,unknown conjugated verb forms
• Linguee French-English - Best used with short phrases and words, to see examples in context
• Wiktionary and Wiktionnaire - Great all around word reference, includes English and French pages
• Wikipedia in French - Used for understanding topics and how they are described in French, e.g. for calculus, electromagnetism, other mathematical and scientific topics
• Lexique de mathématique - Has many definitions of math words, though the coverage is sometimes lacking in the historical sense

Below is a running vocabulary list I've found useful in translating. It's very much a work in progress.

abréger

agir vt to act; to proceed; to exercise an ation, an influence

ainsi conj so, thus, thereby; …et ainsi de suite …and so on;

algèbra algebra; algèbra classique elementary algebra; algèbra moderne modern algebra;

analyse (branch of mathematics) analysis, the branch which covers infinitesimal caculus, the theory of 

functions, and the calculus of variations

appartenir vt to belong; to take part in (sth)

arcs de cercle

arête (geometry, graph theory) edge

axe axis; axe des ordonnées ordinate; axe des abscisses abscissa; axe des cotes third axis

borner vt to limit; nous nous bornerons we will limit ourselves

calcul calculation, typically referring to the process of calculution (as opposed to e.g. calculus, which 

in English often refers to infinitesimal calculus); calcul différentiel differential calculus; calcul intégral 

integral calculus; calcul infinitésimal (cf. analyse) calculus (in the math class sense); calcul des 

variations calculus of variations

Algèbre est la partie des mathématiques qui traite généralement du calcul sur les éléments d’un ensemble d’objets athématiques donnés.

compte the act of evaluating a quantity, a count (c.f. compter); enumeration; total; compte tenu de in 

consideration of; en fin de compte, au bout du compte, tout compte fait all thing considered, in 

conclusion; être loin du compte to be far off from the value of a quantity, to stretch the truth; pour le 

compte de for the benefit of; pour mon compte in my view, according to me; prendre qqch à son 

compte to assume charge or responsibility of sth; rendre compte de qqch to analyze something, 

report on something; se rendre compte de qqch to have a clear notion, 

understanding, of sth; tenir compte de qqch to take into consideration

compter vi to enumerate the numbers (1, 2, …); make calculations;

compter vt to count, determine the number of elements in a group; il faut compter it is necessary to 

account for;

carré squared; racine carrée square root

carre, cube square, cube

convergentes convergent

c’est-à-dire telles, que …, de sorte que …

se comporter vt to behave

en y comprennent including

corps conducteurs

couche layer, shell

conduire à lead (someone) to

concevoir vt to form an idea, a concept; to have a clear idea of; conceive, devise;

creux adj hollow

déduire deduce

le développement de (mathematics) the expansion of; développement en série series expansion; 

developper en serie de Taylor to expand into a Taylor series

divergentes divergent

différentielles

diviser divide

électrisés adj (early 19^th century) electrified

empecher vt to prevent

épaisseur adj thickness

équation f equation, assertion; équation littérale equation in which the coefficients and the constant 

terms are represented by letters. General equations, parametric equations, and canonical equations are 

examples. Roughly translated: algebraic equation, but c.f. équation algébrique. Équation littérale 

refers in particular to equations where all coefficients are represented by letters, e.g. ; équation 

transcendante transcendental equations

espèce type; species

exiger vt ask, demand, command

exercer ils se sont déjà exercés

fonction function

littéral(e) adj following a text word-by-word;

logarithme logarithm

de même conj as far as, likewise; adv as far as that goes;

mémoire memoire, essay; a style of scholarly writing in 18th-19th century France

mince adj thin

moyen method, means (of doing sth)

multiplier vt multiply

multiplier en croix vt to cross multiply

nulles nothing; zero

or conj however

ordonner, ordonnée relativement vt to put in a certain order; to order (sth)

de part et d’autre adv on both sides

physique

polynôme polynomial

puissance f (mathematics) power

quelconque whichever, whatever, whatsoever; any given + noun

quoique conj though, albeit; prep while

racines roots

par rapport à x (mathematics) with respect to x

rapport (mathematics) ratio

rapporter

rayon m radius

rapprocher bring (sth) closer

réduire vt to diminish something, put to a lesser degree, reduce

renfermer vt to hold contained, to enclose; to contain

recouvrer recover, to once again obtain possession; receive payment;

résoudre vt to find a solution, a response to a problem, to a question; to determine the set of solutions 

of an equation, a system of equations

rejeter … et qu’on ait soin de rejeter tous les termes qui …

séries

séries régulières

soit whether, either, may be, consider

somme sum (c.f. plural first person conjugation of être, to be)

sommet a peak, a maximum; (geometry, graph theory) vertex

suite numérique

suites infinies

supputation

toutefois conj however; nonetheless, all the same;