What does the word "result" mean in a mathematical context?

Question

The way mathematicians use the word "result" is quite unfamiliar and unusual in the viewpoint of non-mathematicians. Although I know that "results" usually mean theorems and prepositions that have been proven, I struggle to define the word exactly. Whenever I write something like "This result in complex analysis is very enlightening", somebody will ask me "are you sure this is a correct use of the word 'result'?", and I will struggle to explain what I mean by this word.

What exactly does the word "result" mean in mathematics?

There are few synonyms of the word "theorem" other than "result". Maybe the word "result" plays a role in reducing the repetitiveness of "theorems"?

Answer 1

A result is the outcome of some process. As you indicated, mathematicians often call theorems results, since they are the outcomes of investigations. So, it's quite right to say something like There's is a result in complex variables to the effect that, etc.

Answer 2

A word that has a close meaning to "theorem" is "lemma". It also means "a mathematical statement that has been proven", like a theorem, but usually lemmata are in a sense secondary theorems that are being used in main theorems. I hope this makes some sense...

A "corollary" is also a proven statement, but usually one that almost directly follows by another result.

Perhaps, if a statement has a proof, you can present it as a "fact"? But maybe that use of the word is a bit far-fetched.

"Result" is also a commonly used word, abstract enough to cover all above cases. In a way, "proven statement" can be seen as the outcome of the process of proving that statement (therefore a result of that process) as Allawonder also points out in his answer.