Jabr

Jabr, from the Arabic al-jabr meaning "reunion of broken parts," is a term with roots in the mathematical writings of the Islamic Golden Age. It denotes the method of solving equations by restoration, balancing, and reduction. The concept gained prominence through the 9th–10th century mathematician al-Khwarizmi, who authored Kitab al-Mukhtasar fi Hisab al-Jabr wal-Muqabala (The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing). In this work, systematic procedures for solving linear and quadratic equations were described, including organizing terms, combining like quantities, and, when necessary, completing the square.

The influence of al-Jabr spread to medieval Europe via Latin translations of al-Khwarizmi’s text, where the term algebra emerged as the name of the new mathematical discipline. European scholars gradually developed symbolic notation and more abstract methods, transforming practical techniques for solving equations into a broader framework for reasoning about unknown quantities and general relationships.

Today, algebra is a major branch of mathematics concerned with symbols and the rules for manipulating them to express and analyze relationships, solve equations, and model real-world phenomena. The word jabr remains the etymological root of algebra. In contemporary contexts, Jabr or al-Jabr also appears as a surname or given name in various Arabic-speaking communities.