compound number

American

noun

a quantity expressed in more than one denomination or unit, as one foot six inches or one minute twenty seconds.

compound number British

noun

a quantity expressed in two or more different but related units

3 hours 10 seconds is a compound number

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of compound number

First recorded in 1550–60

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We were in Offshore Processing Centre compound number 3 – the family compound in the Nauru detention facility – for a year and three weeks.

From The Guardian • Mar. 23, 2017

A quantity expressed in two or more denominations is usually called a compound number or compound quantity.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 5 "Arculf" to "Armour, Philip" by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023