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pigeonhole principle

mathematical lemma that, if 𝑛 items are put into 𝑚 containers, with 𝑛>𝑚, then at least one container must contain more than one item
Intangible Theorem Q188276

Facts

5 properties
Instance of
theorem
Inception
1834[5]
Discoverer or inventor
Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, Jean Leurechon[2][3]
Maintained by WikiProject
WikiProject Mathematics[6]
Named after
Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet[4]
🏷️ Also known as
en pigeonhole principle en Dirichlet’s principle en Dirichlet's box principle ar مبدأ برج الحمام cs princip holubníku cs přihrádkový princip cs Dirichletův princip cs zásuvkový princip da skuffeprincippet da Dirichlets skuffeprincip de Dirichletscher Schubfachschluss de Schubladenprinzip de Taubenschlagprinzip de Schubfachprinzip el Αρχή του περιστερώνα es principio de los cajones es principio de Dirichlet es principio del palomar es principio de casillas es principio de las casillas
🔖 Identifiers · 13
OpenAlex ID
C171988527
Australian Educational Vocabulary ID
scot/15520
Brilliant Wiki ID
pigeonhole-principle-definition
Encyclopedia of China (Second Edition) ID
203815
Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition) ID (2026)
151yNq
Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition) old ID (2021)
109688
Encyclopædia Britannica Online ID
topic/pigeonhole-principle
Freebase ID
/m/0f59r
Lex ID
skuffeprincippet
MathWorld ID
DirichletsBoxPrinciple
Microsoft Academic ID (discontinued)
171988527
Namuwiki ID
비둘기 집의 원리
Show all 13 identifiers +1
ProofWiki ID
Dirichlet's_Box_Principle

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🔗 Connections
Discoverer or inventor 2
Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, Jean Leurechon
Instance of 1
theorem
Maintained by WikiProject 1
WikiProject Mathematics
Named after 1
Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
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Summary

pigeonhole principle is a theorem[1].

Related Entities

Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . mathworld.wolfram.com. mathworld.wolfram.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  2. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [5] ↑ . mathworld.wolfram.com. mathworld.wolfram.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  5. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

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APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). pigeonhole principle. Retrieved November 11, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/pigeonhole-principle
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BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_pigeonhole-principle_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{pigeonhole principle}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/pigeonhole-principle}, note = {Accessed: 2026-11-11}}
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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 17w ago · Nyuhn · 2026-07-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Named after → Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
    Discoverer or inventor → Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, Jean Leurechon
    Maintained by WikiProject → WikiProject Mathematics
    Inception → 1834
    + 2 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "Changed the item: QuickStatements 3.0 batch #40849: ZGBK ID"
Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.