Why is $m$ used to denote slope?

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What is the reason, historically, that the letter $m$ is used to denote the slope of a line?

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According to Wolfram MathWorld, there's no consensus. Some think it may have come from French monter meaning to climb, but this is just speculation $-$ it's likely just a trend that caught on. The article I linked to contains a greater elaboration and some examples of where it's not used.