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I want to write a math sentence about polynomials. A polynomial is, by definition, the sum of monomials, and those monomials are often called terms. The terms are ordered by some given rules. My question is

What is the adjective describing the terms that appear later than some fixed term?

For example, consider the following.

The first term and second term satisfy Property (A). The third term, the four term, and so on satisfy Property (B).

What is the concise adjective describing the terms satisfying Property (B)? The rule for ordering is not very simple, so the expressions such as higher order terms are not very good.

The expression such as all the other terms might work, but I want to emphasize that those terms come later. What I can think of are the later terms or the higher terms. But somehow they don't sound very natural to me. Are they completely okay, or are there better expressions?

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You could say the remaining terms, the other terms, or the rest of the terms. I would personally use remaining, but all of those options are natural and not excessively informal.

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  • Another one is "the later terms". In something as precise as math, you'd simply say "the terms after the second term".
    – Fattie
    Mar 25 '19 at 11:21
  • @Fattie: The handy thing about the options I suggested is that they work even if it's, say, the fourth and fifth that meet one criterion and the rest meet some other. But yes, later also works in this case.
    – SamBC
    Mar 25 '19 at 11:23
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I am not sure about "adjective describing the terms satisfying Property (B)", unless you describe property B.

However, you may say:

The first term and second term satisfy Property (A). From the third term on, they satisfy Property (B).

or:

The first N terms satisfy Property (A). The rest of the terms satisfy Property (B).

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