# Terminology

#### delgeezee

##### New member
My book describes a linear system with "m equations in n unknowns."

Maybe this is a subtle detail but this confuses me. Shouldn't it be the other way around, "n unknowns in m equations?"

#### tkhunny

##### Well-known member
MHB Math Helper
Re: terminology

It makes no difference, so long as m and n are defined.

#### Bacterius

##### Well-known member
MHB Math Helper
Re: terminology

[JUSTIFY]They both mean the same thing as far as I can tell. I think this may be a language problem, the first form might be more natural in english whereas the other sounds more natural in other languages (for instance french).[/JUSTIFY]

#### Klaas van Aarsen

##### MHB Seeker
Staff member
Re: terminology

I'd write the first form as "m equations with n unknowns."
Anyway, the two forms mean the same thing.

#### Jameson

Like others said the variable names can be whatever you want to use, but standard convention is that a matrix of size $m \times n$ corresponds to a linear system of equations, which means that there are $m$ rows and $n$ columns. That corresponds to $m$ equations and $n$ variables.