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My current research colleague from New Castle told me that I was reading it wrong. I usually read it as e power x.

How do you read aloud $e ^ x$?

Is it:

  • e raised to x
  • e power x
  • e powered x
  • or e raised to the power x.

What is the correct pronunciation?

  • 3
    "$e$ raised to the power $x$" is right, and probably most other locutions are just abbreviations of that one. I don't think any of them are good nomenclature. There's no good way to do it.2012-09-23
  • 55
    I've only heard 'e to the x' when that notation is used. $\exp(x)$ would be the exponential of x.2012-09-23
  • 0
    I also read it `e power x`. I am interested to know what correction your colleague gave.2012-09-23
  • 3
    A related terminological problem is that my students all want to describe $x^2$ as "exponential." Whenever they do this, I immediately write down $2^x$ and tell them that it's only exponential if $x$ is in the exponent; $x^2$ is a power law, not an exponential. But this doesn't seem to sink in too well with my students, and it will probably never penetrate popular culture, since "exponential" sounds catchy and cool. Is there any alternative to "power law" that is catchy and has some hope of entering the zeitgeist? "Monomial" seems about as cool as Grandma's cotton panties.2012-09-23
  • 0
    To address some of the terms the answers seem to ignore, "e power(ed) x" is something I have never heard, so it is at least highly nonstandard. I consider "e to the x" best ("raised" can be used in there too).2012-09-23
  • 2
    Grammar nazis? In real life? Would never had suspected it. Anyway, I generally avoid talking about math without a pen and paper, or a whiteboard; that way everybody understood even if you mispronounced x + 2 as "eks bi tu".2012-09-23
  • 7
    Tell him that it's an E to the X, to the A, to the M, to the P, to the L, to the E, and that he shouldn't be bothered by your rapping wit when you describe math. Honestly though, both will be the same to 99% of people.2012-09-23
  • 1
    Newcastle? $y \, i$2012-09-23
  • 0
    I say something like "eatada-x"2012-09-24
  • 0
    I would vote that this question is off-topic for this site. Perhaps it would fit better at the [English.SE](http://english.stackexchange.com) one.2012-09-24
  • 0
    In portuguese: *e elevado a x* --> *e* raised to *x*2012-09-24
  • 0
    To me "e power x" (or the parallel "x power 5" for $x^5$) is something I hear from non-native English speakers, but not ever from natives.2013-01-09
  • 0
    "e raised to x" is how I say it.2013-07-15
  • 0
    I say -ex- as in x... It seems fair.2014-05-21

11 Answers 11