Editing Tangram (section)

==Etymology==

The origin of the English word 'tangram' is unclear. One conjecture holds that it is a compound of the Greek element  '-gram' derived from ''γράμμα'' ('written character, letter, that which is drawn') with the 'tan-' element being variously conjectured to be Chinese ''t'an'' 'to extend' or Cantonese ''t'ang'' 'Chinese'.<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', 1910, ''[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/197515 s.v.]''</ref> Alternatively, the word may be derivative of the archaic English 'tangram' meaning "an odd, intricately contrived thing".{{sfnp|Slocum|2003|p=23}}

In either case, the first known use of the word is believed to be found in the 1848 book ''Geometrical Puzzle for the Young'' by mathematician and future Harvard University president [[Thomas Hill (clergyman)|Thomas Hill]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Thomas |title=Puzzles to teach geometry : in seventeen cards numbered from the first to the seventeenth inclusive |date=1848 |publisher=Boston : Wm. Crosby & H.P. Nichols |url=https://archive.org/details/puzzlestoteachge00hillrich}} {{open access}}</ref> Hill likely coined the term in the same work, and vigorously promoted the word in numerous articles advocating for the puzzle's use in education, and in 1864 the word received official recognition in the English language when it was included in Noah Webster's [[American Dictionary of the English Language|''American Dictionary'']].{{sfnp|Slocum|2003|p=25}}