The Collaborative International Dictionary
Arithmetic \A*rith"me*tic\, n. [OE. arsmetike, OF. arismetique, L. arithmetica, fr. Gr. ? (sc. ?), fr. ? arithmetical, fr. ? to number, fr. ? number, prob. fr. same root as E. arm, the idea of counting coming from that of fitting, attaching. See Arm. The modern Eng. and French forms are accommodated to the Greek.]
The science of numbers; the art of computation by figures.
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A book containing the principles of this science.
Arithmetic of sines, trigonometry.
Political arithmetic, the application of the science of numbers to problems in civil government, political economy, and social science.
Universal arithmetic, the name given by Sir Isaac Newton to algebra.
Wiktionary
n. (context now archaic or historical English) The demographic statistics of a country or state. (from 17th c.)
Usage examples of "political arithmetic".
The very ingenious and elaborate calculations of the French writer, by which he deduces the amount of the population from the produce and consumption of corn in Italy, appear to me neither precise nor satisfactory bases for such complicated political arithmetic.