The mathematicians of ancient Greece interpreted the extracting a square root as a geometric problem of finding the side of a square from a known area. Therefore, the words βάσις 'step; (geometry) base' and πλευρά 'rib, (geometry) line that forms the side of a triangle or other two-dimensional figure' were used to designate the square root. In the Hellenistic era, the works and ideas of Greek mathematicians and astronomers became known in India (Yavanajātaka ("The Sayings of the Greeks"), "Romaka Siddhānta" ("The Doctrine of the Romans"), "Pauliṣa Siddhānta" by an unknown Greek author named Paulos) (Jushkevich (ed.) 1970, I,180, Banerjee 1995, 163, Venkateswara Sarma 1997, 808). Alan Cromer suggests that the Greek influence on Indian mathematics began around 100 BCE (Cromer 1993, 111). The Sanskrit pada 'footstep; position, rank, station, site' and mūla 'basis, foundation' were taken to translate the Greek βάσις and πλευρά, but mūla had the primary meaning 'plant root' (Jushkevich (ed.) 1970, I,185). In the second half of the 8th century, Arabian translators of the Indian treatise Sūrya Siddhānta use the Arabic jaḏr 'plant root' for Sanskrit mūla . In the 12th century, when translating Arabic mathematical works into Latin, the Latin radix 'root' was used.