Subtraction

Subtraction is the operation of taking the difference  of two numbers  and . Here,  is called the minuend,  is called the subtrahend, and the symbol between the  and  is called the minus sign. The expression "" is read " minus ."

Subtraction is the inverse of addition, so .

The subtraction of a number from itself gives 0, while the subtraction of a real number from a smaller real number gives a negative real number. Subtraction of real numbers can be naturally extended to complex numbers.