Definition:Existential Quantifier/Historical Note

Historical Note on Existential Quantifier

The symbol $\exists$ was first used for the existential quantifier by Giuseppe Peano in volume $\text{II}$, number $1$, of Formulario Mathematico, 2nd ed. of $1896$.

However, Bertrand Russell was the first to use $\exists$ as a variable binding operator.

Sources

• 1896: Giuseppe Peano: Formulario Mathematico (2nd ed.): Volume $\text{II}$, number $1$

• Earliest Uses of Symbols of Set Theory and Logic in Jeff Miller's website Earliest Uses of Various Mathematical Symbols