…returns the number of elements in {e1, e1, …, eN}.
See English definition of "list".
(1)
List[e1,
e1, …, eN]
or,
equivalently…
{e1, e1, …, eN}
…is a List
with N
elements.
Elements have ordinal positions within a List which
are not changed without changing the List.
By contrast, when a Set
is assigned, the positions of the Set
elements
are irrelevant.
Interestingly, the meaning and emphasis of the word list has
changed dramatically since
1949.
This is probably because of the computer and the general
mechanization of the office and the clothing industry.
As textiles have
become more mechanized, less people are engaged in clothing manufacture
so that a list
no longer has anything to do with a bordering
strip.]
listn.
1. A bordering strip; a margin; edging. Obs. except specif.; A
strip forming the border orselvage of cloth; as, cloth a yard wide
within the lists (inside the selvages); hence, selvage regarded as a
material.
2. A strip or band of cloth; hence, a strip or band of othermaterial.
"Gartered
with a red and blue list." Shak
3. a A stripe, band, or belt, of color, as on an animal's body.
b A division of the hair or beard, formedby parting.
c Obs.A
filter consisting of a strip of cloth.
d Obs.The
lobe of the ear.
4. A limit or boundary; also, an enclosure.
The very list, the very utmost bound,
Of all
ourfortunes.
Shak