The apparent plural form in English, like the French plural form (and the less commonly used singular derivative ), goes back to the Latin neuter plural (Cicero), based on the Greek plural "ta mathēmatiká" (), used by Aristotle (384–322 BC), and meaning roughly "all things mathematical", although it is plausible that English borrowed only the adjective "mathematic(al)" and formed the noun "mathematics" anew, after the pattern of "physics" and "metaphysics", which were inherited from Greek. In English, the noun "mathematics" takes a singular verb. It is often shortened to "maths" or, in North America, "math".